


Le Mâle Du Loup

by Julesmonster



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, M/M, Mpreg, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-24
Updated: 2012-09-24
Packaged: 2017-11-14 23:18:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesmonster/pseuds/Julesmonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry has been captured by Death Eaters and is locked up with Remus on the full moon. There is only one way for them both to survive the night...they must mate. (And yes, I know this plot has been overused, but I like my take! :P)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In the Hands of a Madman

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: They aren't mine... I just like making them shag.
> 
> A/N: Okay here's another fic that has been moldering away lost in the archives of another site. It is also another of my favorites. The title means "The Wolf's Mate" but I thought it sounded better in French.

Harry Potter paced the dungeon cell trying to figure out a way to get out, as he had for what must have been weeks. The cell consisted of three stone walls, at least a foot thick, and one wall of iron bars that opened into a dark stone hall. There were no windows and no way for him to tell how long he'd been there. There was a bucket in one corner for his bodily functions, another bucket of water by the cell door, and a straw pallet with a thin blanket along one wall. There was nothing else. The only light came from a torch half way down the corridor.

Harry was cold, tired and hungry. But worse than that, he was in pain. His captors, faceless Death Eaters, came at irregular intervals to torture him. They mainly used the Cruciatus curse, but occasionally liked to mix that up with sessions with a whip. He wasn't severely injured. No, they didn't want him dead. They just wanted to break him.

Voldemort's latest plan was to turn the Savior of the Wizarding World to the Dark side. And so they worked their mind games and tried to manipulate him into giving up. They withheld food for days, and then offered him a feast if he would turn. They tortured him to near insanity and then offered him release. They showed him the bright cheerful room with a warm fire and a cozy bed that could be his if he would just pledge his loyalty to the Dark Lord.

So far, Harry had remained strong. But he was weakening.

Harry wanted to go home. He wanted to see Ron and Hermione. He wanted to be with Sirius and Remus. He wanted to see Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes. Hell, he'd even rather see Snape than be locked in this cell for days on end.

It had been close to three days, as far as Harry could tell, since anyone had bothered to even check on him, and the lack of human contact, even in the form of a Death Eater, was getting to him. Not to mention, he was hungry enough to even eat a rat, if he could catch one. He suddenly had a great deal of sympathy for the time Sirius had been on the run and living off of rats. Desperation can make a man do funny things.

He sat back on his pallet and pulled his knees up to his chest. He'd been practicing wandless magic in an attempt to help himself escape. As he sat there, he tossed a Knut across the cell and tried to levitate it. He'd managed to lift it several inches the last time he'd tried, but it had drained him quite a bit. He figured, though, if he kept working on it, he would get better and be able to do it for longer. He thought of it like building his magical muscles.

After about an hour of training, he was exhausted, but he had managed to hold the coin up for two minutes and Accio it back to him successfully. Pretty soon, he might be able to use Alohomora and get himself the hell out of there. Maybe.

He was just about to drift off into a light doze when he heard the door at the end of the corridor open and loud voices coming closer. He backed up against the wall and waited. What would it be this time? More torture? Or maybe they would finally give him food.

"Back against the wall!" one of the masked figures told him, his wand pointed at Harry's chest. Harry leaned against the wall and put his hands up in the manner he had learned in his captivity. The second Death Eater came into view levitating a body behind him. Or at least Harry thought it was a body. It really didn't look like much more than a pile of bloody rags.

"Got a friend to keep you company," the second man laughed as he tossed the body into the cell and slammed the door shut again. "Have fun tonight boys. I can't wait to see who's left alive come morning! Let us know if you change your mind about joining our master." And then they were gone.

Harry carefully approached the figure curled into a ball on the floor by the cell door. The person's cloak was filthy and torn, splattered with blood and grime. His hair was matted with more blood from a wound at the base of his skull, making the hair look darker than it normally would, but Harry guessed it should have been a light brown color normally. Harry tried a wandless spell to staunch the blood, and it worked partially, slowing the flow to a more manageable trickle. Harry ripped the hem from his shirt and pressed it to the wound before rolling the man over and tying it tightly.

When he rolled the man, Harry knew right away who it was, despite the bruising and dirt that covered the familiar face. Remus Lupin.

Amber eyes fluttered. "Harry," Remus moaned His voice was little more than a hoarse rasp.

"Sh- It's okay, Remus. I've got you," Harry soothed.

"No-." Remus tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over him and he closed his eyes for a long minute. "Got to get out of here."

"We can't go anywhere," Harry sighed.

"The moon-."

"The moon?" Harry asked, but he had a sudden comprehension of the panic he saw in Remus' eyes. It must be the full moon tonight. That's what their captors had meant. They wanted him to kill Remus.

And Harry considered it for a brief second. Remus was weak. Harry could kill him with his bare hands, despite his own weakened state. If he let him live, Harry would surely die. But if he killed Remus, Harry would cross that line of no return. He would rather die.

"Kill me," Remus croaked, struggling to sit up against the cell wall. Harry moved beside him and let Remus lean against him.

"Never."

"But-."

"Listen," Harry told the werewolf calmly, "I will not become a killer to save myself. We either figure this out together, or we don't. But I will not kill you. That's what they want. They want to make me a monster like them. And I refuse to let them win. I would rather die with a clear conscience."

Remus nodded and closed his eyes again. He was quiet for long minutes. "I may be weak, but the wolf will not be. The only way I can think to prevent the wolf from attacking is to- to mark you."

"What do you mean?"

"I- I can claim you as my mate. Bite you. Mark you." Remus paused to gather his strength. "If I claim you, the wolf may leave you alone. But-."

"Then bite me," Harry said quietly.

"There's more, Harry," Remus sighed. "If we did this, there would be no turning back. It would tie you to me for life. And I don't know how it will affect you. I've only ever read about two werewolves mating…"

"It doesn't matter." Harry told him, his tone brooking no argument. "I will not kill you, and if this is the best chance we have of both getting out of this alive, we will do it." And Harry was determined that they would. He'd never really thought about a man in any sort of sexual way, let alone Remus, but Harry was a survivor. He would do what it took to make it out of this situation alive, along with Remus, and his integrity, intact. Even if that meant bonding for life with a werewolf.

When Remus didn't respond, Harry went on, "Listen, Remus, we're friends. We get on well together. Whatever happens, we can make this work. I trust you. And if I change…Well we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. But we need to survive the night and then find a way to get the hell out of here."

"I can't help but wonder what your parents would think about this," Remus sighed. "Not to mention what Sirius will do when he finds out. I would never have wished this on you. Hell, I'm twenty years older than you. This is wrong on so many levels." When Harry would have argued, Remus stopped him, "But- but you're right. We don't have much choice it seems."

Remus rested his head on Harry's shoulder for a long moment. They sat letting the silence wash over them, each lost in their own thoughts.

"We don't have much time," Remus finally said. "I can feel the moon pulling at me already. This is your last chance to change your mind. There is no guarantee that this will work."

"I won't change my mind," Harry said firmly, though his stomach lurched at the thought of being at the mercy of a feral werewolf. "What do you need to do?"

"Just tilt your head and give me your neck," Remus said and maneuvered around to face Harry. Harry bore his neck and Remus sniffed it. Harry could tell the wolf was beginning to assert itself. He could see it in Remus' eyes as he ran his tongue over his shoulder and neck, tugging the collar of his shirt aside. A part of Harry was disturbed by the idea of being bitten by Remus, even if it was their only chance at survival, but another part of him was oddly excited.

"Just do it," Harry whispered. And then he felt the pain of Remus' teeth tearing into the skin and muscles at the juncture of neck and shoulder. It hurt. Hell, it was agony. But soon the pain was easing and Harry watched as Remus' tongue lapped at the bloody wound, healing it. Harry felt a tingle flow from the wound through the rest of his body until it pooled in his groin. Bloody hell, this was not the time to get aroused.

"No one can know about this, Harry. It would be dangerous for both of us. Now when the wolf comes, make no fast moves," Remus instructed as his body began to shake with the beginnings of the transformation. He quickly and carefully removed his clothing as he continued to speak softly, something that only caused Harry's arousal to increase. "Stay low to the ground. Don't look directly into the wolf's eyes. Don't challenge him. If he approaches you, offer your neck in submission. Let him smell you. Do not try to fight…Argh!"

Harry watched in terror as his friend, and now mate, began to change in front of his eyes. Gentle features distorted with pain and slowly morphed into the face of a wolf. Fur grew all over his scarred body. Harry huddled against the wall and drew his legs up to his chest. In moments, the wolf had completely emerged, and Harry wished that he could be sure that the marking would protect him.

It took the wolf a moment to come to himself. It paced around the room, learning its boundaries and smells. It growled low in its chest, and Harry flinched. He was sure that it knew he was there, but it did not approach right away. Harry watched it pace, careful to keep his eyes low and submissive. Then the wolf turned towards him.

Harry's heart raced. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. He glanced up at the wolf under lowered lashes, and the wolf stared back at him. A soft, throaty growl rumbled through its chest, igniting something inside of Harry. The tingle was back, and with it, the arousal.

Moony sniffed Harry, standing over him and starting at his neck, in the place Remus had so recently bit him. There was still a small trickle of blood there, staining Harry's shirt, and the wolf zeroed in on that smell. Harry wasn't sure what to expect, but he certainly didn't expect the wolf to lick that spot. And he certainly didn't expect it to cause an immediate response in his cock. What had been a mild arousal was now a full-blown hard-on.

Harry tried to keep his head, but there was something happening to him. His brain felt fuzzy. All he could think of was the wolf and what it wanted. He would willingly give the wolf anything. He would be anything it wanted him to be. Moony continued to lick and sniff him, tearing at Harry's shirt for better access to his skin. Harry obliged and removed the shirt.

After that, Harry was lost in a haze.


	2. Dawn Breaks

Harry woke up naked and sore, but refused to dwell on the implications of that fact. His head was still fuzzy and it took every ounce of will just to move. Remus was curled up next to him on the pallet and they were both covered by the thin blanket. Harry very carefully got up and found his clothes. Their captors would be returning soon, he was sure. They didn't have much time. He very carefully helped Remus dress.

As he worked, flashes of hazy memories came to him. Moony licking him, Moony nuzzling him. Harry shook his head. He didn't have time to analyze any of that now, or why he had lost all sense of himself for those hours. He and Remus could explore that later. For the time being, he needed to focus on getting them to safety.

Harry wasn't sure how he knew, but he was suddenly sure that he could get them out. His magic felt stronger and he felt almost invincible this morning, despite the weakness and trembling that was the result of too many days without food and too much exertion the night before.

Once they were both dressed, Harry waved his hand over the locked cell door and, amazingly it opened. He used a silent Mobilicorpus on Remus' unconscious form and they made their way down the dim corridor. Another door and stairs leading to the main floor. It wasn't until they were nearing the doors of the deteriorating old castle that they ran into opposition.

"I don't know how you got out, Potter," a voice snarled, "but you will regret this."

Harry saw two Death Eaters blocking his way, standing between him and the exit. He paid no attention to their raised wands or the curses they began to mutter. With a wave of his hand, before they could finish the curses on their lips, he stupefied them both at once, never once losing his careful hold on Remus. He walked over and searched the two bodies and was lucky enough to find his wand. He also took their wands and snapped them in two.

Once outside, Harry' luck continued as the grounds were empty of further sentries. He saw that the sun was just clearing the horizon, and, acting on instinct, he quickly headed into the nearby forest. About twenty yards into the woods, Harry felt a tingle of magic. It was unfamiliar, but he somehow knew that he had just passed through the anti-apparition wards. He set Remus carefully down and gathered him into his arms, and then Apparated them both back to the gates of Hogwarts before the darkness of exhaustion claimed him.

**HPHPHP**

Harry woke up with a fuzzy head and blurred vision. Where were his glasses? Where was he, for that matter?

"Harry?" Sirius' voice broke through the haze. Harry felt gentle hands guiding his glasses onto his face, and then Sirius' image cleared. He looked tired and worried.

"What happened? Where's Remus?"

"Remus is fine. He's sleeping in the next bed." Sirius leaned to the side, and Harry could see Remus sleeping peacefully. He sighed with relief and lay back against his pillows. "I was hoping you could tell me what happened. How did you get away? Why was Remus with you?" Sirius asked. "Hagrid found you and Remus at the gates just after dawn."

"They caught Remus," Harry remembered. "He was in bad shape when they brought him in. He- it was the full moon. They wanted me to kill him, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't be a killer."

"What happened when the moon rose?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I- I'm not sure," Harry told him. And it was the truth. Sort of. He remembered flashes of the night, but they didn't make much sense. He knew Remus had bitten him. Not Moony. Remus. And he wasn't supposed to tell anyone. "Everything is all fuzzy. I think I got us out this morning. There were only two guards, but I'm not sure how I did it. Then I Apparated us here. I don't remember anything after that. How long have I been gone?"

"Three weeks," Sirius said. He looked like he wanted to ask something, but was afraid.

Harry thought that sounded about right, but he was more worried about other things. "Am I-?" Harry couldn't finish the question.

"No." Sirius sighed with relief. "When they brought you in together, Madame Pomfrey insisted on checking, just in case. You were not infected, but no one is sure how that can be."

"Is he really okay?" Harry couldn't help but worry about Remus.

"He's fine," Sirius repeated. "He's just sleeping off the aftereffects of the transformation. Madame Pomfrey has already healed any of his other injuries. He should be better tomorrow."

Harry nodded and yawned. He was too tired to keep his eyes open any longer.

**HPHPHP**

The next time Harry woke moonlight was shining through the hospital wing windows, and Remus was sitting by his bed looking tired and full of guilt. Harry found his glasses on his bedside table and put them on. The hospital wing looked deserted.

"How are you feeling?" Remus asked quietly.

"Much better," Harry smiled. "What about you?"

"I'm still a bit tired, but nothing worse than most months," Remus shrugged. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"Remus, we didn't have a choice," Harry told him as he reached for the older wizard's hand. "We'll figure it out."

"I don't think you understand what I've done to you," Remus sighed.

"So explain it to me," Harry said gently.

"I'm not sure I understand it, either. How much of last night do you remember?" Remus asked.

"Most of it is rather hazy," Harry admitted quietly, a blush staining his cheeks. "But I have flashes of what happened. I know that Moony- claimed me. And I know that there was some part of me that wanted to be claimed."

"I infected you," Remus told him. "Not in the sense that you will transform every month. I marked you in my human form, so I think you will remain human for the most part. But there is now a part of you that is also wolf."

"That's why I responded that way?" Harry asked. "I was aware at first of what was happening. And I knew that on some level I would not normally have reacted that way, but the rest of me- It just felt right to give Moony whatever he wanted. And I knew what he wanted."

"That was your wolf side," Remus explained. "You will always respond in a submissive manner to a direct command from Moony. It is your pack instinct. I am the alpha of our little pack and you will want to please me."

"Okay," Harry shrugged. "I trust you, Remus. I know you won't take advantage of that."

"I will try not to," Remus sighed. "But the wolf in me sees it as his right. There will be times…"

"It's okay," Harry insisted. He stroked the back of the hand still clasped in his own. "I am alive. And so are you. The rest we can deal with."

"I really hope so," Remus smiled tentatively. "We are bonded now. And there is no turning back."

"Sirius was here earlier when I woke up," Harry said. "I didn't tell him you'd marked me."

"We'll probably need to tell him sooner or later, but I'm not sure I can face that just yet," Remus told him. "He- We both wanted you to have choices in your life. We wanted for you to fall in love and have a family. We wanted-."

"None of us can choose the circumstances of our lives; we can only choose how we deal with those circumstances," Harry said. There was no bitterness in his tone, only a wisdom that was beyond his seventeen years. "I've lived with the knowledge that a maniacal evil Dark Lord wants me dead since I was eleven. Before that, I lived with Muggles who hated me. Things happen to me, and I learn to cope with them. I have had to learn to make the most of the things I can control, and accept those that I cannot. And to be honest with you, I can think of a lot worse things that could have happened. I could have been killed by Moony. I could have become a werewolf. Hell, I could have killed you and become a _real_ monster. I can live with this, Remus."

Remus studied Harry sadly for long minutes before asking, "How did you get us out of there?"

"I'm really not sure."


	3. Lost Without You

The next morning, they were released from the hospital wing and summoned to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was pleased to have Harry and Remus back, even though they could not give him a clear accounting of how they had escaped. Harry hadn't lied when he told Sirius and Remus that it was all a bit hazy. That didn't stop Dumbledore from trying to pry into Harry's mind for the memories.

Harry recognized the use of Legilimency and quickly blocked the older wizard before he could see Harry's memory of being marked. He was overwhelmed by a protective instinct for his mate and felt the urge to strike out at the headmaster for the perceived threat. Remus apparently recognized his response, because he laid a calming hand to the back of Harry's neck, which served to quiet the young man almost immediately.

Dumbledore seemed rather disappointed that they couldn't give him any other details, but he let it pass, and soon sent them on their way. Remus went back to Grimmauld Place, and Harry went back to his dorm to face his friends.

Hermione and Ron were ecstatic to see Harry alive and well. Dumbledore had told them that Harry was found, but none of the details, so Harry was forced to once again go through the few facts he could remember and avoid those which were problematic. Ron seemed to accept the tale at face value, but Hermione had a speculative gleam in her eye, as if she knew that there was more to the story than Harry was letting on.

It was a Saturday, so the trio spent much of the day just relaxing in the common room, in deference to Harry's recent recovery. They played chess and exploding snap, and Hermione didn't once mention all of the work that Harry needed to make up. It should have been a good day for the young wizard.

Harry's mind, however, seemed to be stuck on an endless cycle of replaying the events from his captivity. Especially those concerning Remus. He was bonded to Remus. He had been marked. He wasn't even gay, and yet he felt this overwhelming urge to go to Remus and mate with him. Again. For he was now sure that they had mated in that dark and dank cell.

He had lost his virginity to a werewolf. And apparently he'd enjoyed it, because he could think of little else but repeating the experience. By evening, Harry was a mass of nervous energy. He could no longer even focus on the conversation being held around him. He stood up to pace the floor.

"Harry?" Hermione looked up at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit restless, I guess," Harry tried to play it off. "Listen, I've got to work off some of this energy. I'm going for a walk. I'll be back before curfew."

His friends tried to go along, but Harry insisted he wanted to be alone. That wasn't true. He wanted to be with Remus, but that was impossible. So he did the next best thing. He headed for the prefects' bathroom and warded it against interruptions, and then he wanked himself silly. All the while, he replayed the snatches of memory from his one experience with Moony and came with Remus' name on his lips.

**HPHPHP**

The next few weeks were torture for Remus. He was stuck in Grimmauld Place with Sirius. And without Harry. He couldn't eat. He couldn't sleep. All he did, day after day, was pace and become more and more agitated. Even Sirius was starting to worry.

"Moony, what's with you?" Sirius asked one day after another shouting match that left them both exhausted. Remus' temper had gotten out of control, and Sirius, never the most patient of men, was becoming equally testy.

"Nothing."

"The hell you say," Sirius snorted. "You are not acting like the man I've known for twenty-five years. You're testy and aren't eating. And don't think I don't know that you pace the halls every night. What is going on?"

Remus sighed and flopped onto the sofa in front of the fire. "I don't know. I can't seem to control it."

"The wolf?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Yeah," Remus replied. "He wants something I can't give him and its making us both crazy."

"What is it he wants?" Sirius asked. Maybe there was something he could do.

"I-I can't tell you that," Remus said nervously.

"But-."

"Just drop it, Padfoot!" Remus raged suddenly. "If I wanted your help, I'd ask for it!" Then he stormed out of the room. Minutes later, Sirius could hear Remus upstairs and he could hear the sound of breaking furniture. There had to be some way to help his friend. If there wasn't, he was afraid he just might end up hexing him soon.

**HPHPHP**

Harry wasn't faring any better. In fact, he was doing worse. He didn't have Remus' naturally laid back disposition. His temper was shaky under the best of circumstances. These were not the best of circumstances. He had become snarkier than even Snape at his worst. He got into arguments with his teachers and fights with his peers. He'd had detention almost every night since returning to classes.

The only times he felt even close to normal were the times he spent locked away in the bathroom wanking. In those moments, he let himself think about Remus. About belonging to the wolf. About being marked by the wolf. About being fucked by the wolf. In those moments, nothing else mattered.

Like Remus, Harry wasn't eating or sleeping. After almost four weeks of this, he looked like hell. He'd lost nearly a stone, weight he couldn't afford to lose as he'd already been decidedly underweight from his stay with Voldemort. He had huge circles under his eyes which made him look like he had lost a fist fight, and he was extremely pale.

Harry was constantly agitated, and the closer it came to the full moon, the worse he got. Even Ron and Hermione had begun avoiding him. He really couldn't blame them. He was being a right git, but he could seem to help himself; he was totally out of control.

His magic was out of control as well. He'd been sent to see Madam Pomfrey three times in the last week because he'd lost control of some spell or other and ended up blasting a hole in the wall, or something equally destructive. His magic was flaring. He could feel it. Just like he could feel the magic in everyone else around him. In every thing. But that didn't mean he could control it.

**HPHPHP**

The night of the next full moon, everything that had been building up in both Remus and Harry came to a head. For once, Harry didn't have detention and was trying to dutifully do make-up work with Ron and Hermione, but his mind just wasn't on charms or transfiguration.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione sighed impatiently. "You need to concentrate or we'll never get through this."

"Back off, Hermione!" Harry glared at his friend. "It's not like any of this matters anyway!"

"Then what does matter?" she asked softly, dreading the storm she could see brewing in her friend's eyes, but unwilling to back down. Harry had been impossible for weeks, since returning from captivity, and she was worried that his time with Voldemort had done more damage than they originally realized. "What does matter, Harry? Because you've been acting like a right git for weeks now, and I don't see it getting any better. We are just trying to help you, but you bite our heads off at every turn."

"I've got to go," Harry said suddenly, as he got up from the sofa in the common room and went to the stairs to get his cloak. By the time he had returned, Ron, Ginny, and Neville had joined Hermione and they had created a human barrier.

"It's after curfew," Ron said calmly. "Where are you going?"

"He needs me," Harry said. He had a glazed look in his eyes. "I have to go to him."

"Harry, I don't think that's a good idea," Hermione stated.

"I have to go to him!"

"Who?" Ginny wanted to know.

"I- It doesn't matter," Harry said, calm again.

"I'm sorry mate," Ron truly sounded apologetic. "We can't let you go anywhere. It's too dangerous. The Death Eaters-."

"Fuck the bloody Death Eaters!" Harry raged; the glassy look was back. All four friends tried to surreptitiously draw their wands.

"I'm really sorry about this," Neville whispered and began a binding spell, along with the rest of the group, but it was too late. Harry blocked the spells with a thought.

"Fuck you all!" Harry shouted and then they were laid out at his feet, unconscious, without a spell or even a hand being lifted. Harry glared at them for a moment then he was out the portrait hole and gone.

**HPHPHP**

Harry arrived at #12 Grimmauld Place to find Sirius pacing the living room distractedly. Harry watched his surprise at finding his godson there in the middle of the week with no warning and no reason that he could come up with. Although he was sure Dumbledore would have told Sirius that Harry had been acting odd lately, getting into more trouble than usual.

"What are you doing here?"

Harry didn't even bother to answer Sirius. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Moony!" Harry shouted, storming through the doorway and heading up the stairs. A minute later he was back, not having found the werewolf.

"You can't see him tonight," Sirius said calmly. "Something went wrong with his potion. I had to lock him up. He's not in his right mind. The wolf has taken over."

"Where is he?" Harry shoved Sirius against the wall, and for the first time, Sirius got a good look at the crazed look in Harry's eyes. Sirius tried to pull away, and he should have been more than capable. He outweighed Harry by at least four stone. He was taller and had more training in defending himself from physical attacks. But he couldn't budge.

"Let me go," Sirius demanded.

"Not until you tell me where he is!" Harry shouted. He pulled Sirius away from the wall and slammed him back into it with such force that Sirius saw stars for a moment.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius shouted back.

Harry quickly lost interest in Sirius, and dropped him to the floor. "I'll find him myself!" And then he was off again, this time headed toward the cellar. Sirius acted quickly, drawing his wand to stop the boy from getting to where the werewolf was caged, but again, it wasn't fast enough. Harry whirled around and a blast of power shot out of him, knocking Sirius unconscious.


	4. Answers and Explanations

When Sirius awoke, it was still night, though just barely. The moon would be setting soon. He had to make sure that Harry was all right. He slowly regained his feet and stumbled to the cellar door. It was open. Shit.

Turning into Padfoot, he made his way cautiously down the steps. The torch he had lit the night before was still burning and he could make out two forms on the cellar floor beneath him. Moony was curled up next to a naked Harry and they both seemed to be resting peacefully. In fact they looked totally shagged out.

Sirius quickly pushed that thought aside. Remus would never… But Moony might.

Moony glanced up at him and carefully made his way over. He nudged Padfoot with his muzzle and whined pitifully. An apology. Whatever had apparently caused his mania last night had obviously been fixed. Could it have been Harry?

Sirius transformed and petted Moony absentmindedly. The wolf yipped and went back to lie down beside Harry once again, licking the boy's face and snuggling up into his warmth.

Sirius climbed the stairs again, feeling a hundred years old.

What the hell was going on?

**HPHPHP**

An hour later, Sirius still sat at the kitchen table where he'd fallen into a chair to think when he heard a noise from the cellar. A few minutes later, Harry emerged helping a tired Remus into the room. They both looked a bit worse for wear, but thankfully they were both fully clothed.

"What happened?" Harry asked after he and Remus were both sitting.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Sirius said quietly. "Why did I find you naked with Moony an hour ago?"

"I-." Harry didn't get any further before the fire flared green and Dumbledore and Severus Snape stepped through into the room. But Sirius noted that neither Harry nor Remus would meet his eyes. Well, that answered that question. Fuck!

"There you are, my boy!" Dumbledore looked rather relieved to see Harry. Sirius thought that was to be expected if Harry had just disappeared from school last night as he suspected. "I am happy to see that you were not captured by Voldemort last night, as was feared."

"Indeed," Snape drawled. "Now perhaps you can explain why you are off school grounds without permission, and why you felt it necessary to attack your fellow Gryffindors last night."

"I attacked-? Who?" Harry looked truly perplexed.

"I'm afraid that Miss Granger, Mr. Longbottom and Mr. and Miss Weasley were found unconscious in your common room this morning by a couple of third years." Dumbledore explained. "Madam Pomfrey has been seeing to their injuries. They told a very interesting story about how they came to be injured."

"I attacked my friends?" Harry asked quietly.

"So much for the vaunted Gryffindor loyalty," Snape sneered. "Apparently you decided that you wanted to take a stroll after curfew, breaking rules as usual, and when they tried to dissuade you, you turned on them."

"But I- I don't remember," Harry finished lamely. He looked truly heartbroken at the idea that he might have injured his friends. Remus remained silent, but placed a comforting hand on Harry's neck. As in Dumbledore's office, it served to soothe the younger man instantly. Dumbledore noted the contact, but did not question it yet.

"What is the last thing you do remember?" Sirius asked.

"I was doing make-up work, for all the time I missed last month," Harry told them. "Then I remember suddenly feeling a need to –." He stopped and looked up at Remus. They shared a long look, and then Remus nodded marginally. "I felt an urge to come here, to be with Remus. I knew he needed me."

"Why is that?" Snape asked coldly condemning them both with his eyes.

"Remus has been acting- off- all month," Sirius explained for his friend. "Last night, even though he took the Wolfsbane potion, the wolf took over. I had to trap him in the basement. He was out of his mind."

"And you thought you could help him?" Dumbledore asked gently, not bothering yet to question how Harry had known that Remus needed help.

"I don't know," Harry sighed. "Everything is a blur. I just knew that I had to get to him."

"I see," Dumbledore said. He paused for a moment to study Remus and Harry. "I think it is time that you tell us what really happened in that cell last month."

Again Harry looked at Remus, and again the nod came. "We didn't have a choice. They wanted me to kill Remus, to turn me into a murderer. Either that, or let the wolf kill me. Remus thought that there might be a way to save us both. He didn't want to do it, because we couldn't be sure how it would affect me in the long run, and because we weren't even sure that it would work. But I talked him into it. There wasn't any other way. Do you understand?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore and realized that the older wizard more than likely did understand. But Snape and Sirius looked clueless.

"What did you do?" Sirius asked Harry, but it was Remus who finally answered.

"I marked him," Remus said quietly but firmly. "In my human form, I marked him as my mate in the hopes that the wolf would recognize him as such and leave him unharmed."

"Oh gods, Remy." Sirius looked sick. His best friend was now bonded to his godson. For life.

"I'm so sorry, Siri," Remus looked like he was about to cry. This time it was Harry who comforted Remus with a soft squeeze to his hand.

"It's okay, you know," Harry told them all. "I'm of age. It was my choice, and I don't regret it. Like I told Remus, a lot worse things could have happened that night. We just did what we needed to do."

"No one blames either of you," Dumbledore said, pointedly looking at both Sirius and Snape. "We are not angry that you did what you did. We are simply sad that it was necessary. You both deserve to have choices. But as that is not to be, we will support you both through this time of adjustment."

"So is this why they've both been acting so crazy lately?" Sirius asked. "Remus has been a right pain in the ass, and from what I've gathered, Harry has been in more trouble in the last month than his first six years of school combined."

"I do believe that their bonding has played a hand in that, yes," Dumbledore nodded. "I believe that the bond requires them to be in frequent contact with the other. I have noticed that twice since our arrival, they have each had a calming affect on the other with a simple touch."

Sirius muttered something at that, which to Harry sounded like "the shagging last night probably didn't hurt," but no one else seemed to have heard, so he let it pass.

"I believe that Harry and Remus need to be together to ground each other," Dumbledore continued. "Harry has been experiencing some rather significant magical fluctuations in the last weeks. I believe that Remus may be the key to solving that particular problem."

"But what about his attacks on the students?" Snape brought up, unwilling to just let the incident go.

"Ah yes," Dumbledore twinkled. "I was getting to that. Harry, Hermione tells me that you did not use a spell or a wand when you attacked them. Have you noticed this ability before now?"

Snape glowered. That was not what he had been getting at. Obviously the brat was going to go unpunished once again.

"I- um- Well, I was practicing wandless magic when they had me alone in my cell," Harry told them shyly. "I wasn't getting very far; a few levitation spells, a summoning charm; nothing very powerful, and not even very good at the ones I could muster."

"But then Remus marked you?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "I don't remember everything about the next morning, I was still in that- daze- like last night- but I do know that I used wandless magic to carry Remus out. And I disarmed and bound the two guards before getting my wand back. Then I took Remus to the edge of the apparition wards and I managed to get us to the gates of Hogwarts."

"How did you know where the apparition wards ended?" This came from Snape, who for once looked genuinely interested in what Harry had to say.

"I could feel them," Harry shrugged. "I can still feel the magic around me. I can almost- see- it. I'm not sure how else to describe it. I just knew that the wards were there."

"I've never heard of a werewolf bond having this kind of effect," Remus stated.

"But don't most werewolves bond with another werewolf?" Snape asked dryly. "They would not note a change in their powers as they are already changed from the infection."

"True enough," Dumbledore nodded. "We honestly don't know enough about this to form any sort of theory as yet. We shall need to do some research."

"As long as we're discussing changes in Harry," Sirius sighed. "I suppose I should tell you that I think there is another side effect to this bond. He was rather insistent about seeing Remus last night when he arrived. But because Remus was out of it, I tried to stop him. Harry used brute force on me. Then he used that wandless magic."

"Did I hurt you?" Harry asked regretfully.

"No, I'm fine," Sirius assured him. "You just knocked me into the wall a couple of times. But you shouldn't have been able to do that. I think that this bonding has increased your physical strength as well as your magical."

"Harry, you said before that you just knew that Remus needed you," Dumbledore said. "Can you hear his thoughts?"

"No, nothing like that," Harry explained. "It was more like his emotions. Like when I can tell how Voldemort is feeling? Only without the blinding pain. It's only flashes of emotion."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "How about you Remus? Can you sense Harry's emotions?"

"I never really thought about it," Remus said. He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate for a moment. "Yes. Yes, I can."

"So now what?" Sirius wanted to know.

"It is obviously a bad idea to continue to separate them," Dumbledore stated. "They both seem to fall apart."

"How can you tell," Snape muttered quietly, but not quiet enough; Dumbledore gave him a chastising glance and Sirius growled.

"As I was saying," Dumbledore continued. "I believe it is best to keep them together so they can ground each other. With that in mind, I think that Harry should stay here and commute to school."

"But, Albus-!"

"Harry will need to learn how to utilize his increased powers in a safe environment," Dumbledore said, ignoring the protest from his recalcitrant Potions Master. "And I believe the time has come for some more in depth study if Harry is to be able to defeat Voldemort once and for all. With that in mind, I will leave his extra education in the hands of all three of you."

"He will need defense, charms, and transfigurations," Snape mused. "A more competent knowledge of potions. Occlumency, of course…"

"I think some Arithmancy wouldn't go astray," Remus put in.

"Arithmancy?" Sirius asked. "Whatever for?"

"I do believe that we may need to customize a spell at the very least to obtain our objective," Remus stated. "I can handle defense easily enough, and charms for that matter. And Severus would be well suited to potions and Occlumency. Sirius?"

"I'll take transfigurations." He sighed. "But I also think we should add in hand to hand combat. I'll take that on as well."

"That just leaves Arithmancy," Dumbledore said. "As I recall, none of you gentlemen were very keen on the subject as students, so I shall arrange for Bill Weasley to come in for that. His work for Gringotts requires an in depth understanding of the subject."

Harry, who had been silent as the adults sorted out his life, finally spoke up. "But what about Quidditch? With all these extra lessons…"

"Is Quidditch more important than defeating the Dark Lord?" Snape sneered.

"Well, no, but-!"

"We will arrange time for two practices a week," Dumbledore compromised. "I am afraid any more than that, the team will need to do without you. You will, of course, still be available to participate in matches."

"Okay," Harry sighed. "I'm never going to have time to spend with my friends at all, am I?"

"Not much," Remus agreed. "But we will do our best to arrange some time for you to spend with them. And you'll still be taking classes with them."

"I will arrange to be available on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The rest of you can figure out the remainder of the boy's schedule, I take?" Snape gave a general glare at the assemblage. "Good. If that is all, headmaster, I do have classes to teach."

Dumbledore rose from his chair with a sigh. "And I have a mountain of paperwork waiting for me that Minerva will be looking for before lunch. Harry, I will expect you back by lunchtime. You can attend your afternoon classes and then collect your trunk before dinner. I will expect you to take breakfast and lunch in the Great Hall, but you are free to return to Grimmauld Place for dinner and your extra lessons unless you have practice."

Within moments, both Snape and Dumbledore were gone.

"I'll tell you one thing, young man," Sirius growled. "The first thing I'm going to teach you is how to attain your Animagus form. I have no intention of walking in on a scene like the one I was subjected to this morning!"

Remus chuckled. "No stomach for bestiality, Padfoot? I seem to recall-."

"Enough, Moony!" Sirius shouted, but his face was a bit pink. "I just don't like the fact that it's my godson…"

"But it's okay if I'm an animal too?" Harry was truly confused.

"No, but..." Sirius seemed at a loss. "It's just less icky that way."

This time both Harry and Remus laughed.


	5. Back to School

Harry flooed to the headmaster's office before lunch. He, Remus and Sirius had spent the morning napping. It had been a long night for all of them. Things were a bit awkward at first, when Harry and Remus automatically headed for the same bedroom. Sirius gave a low growl, but didn't say a word. Harry slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.

So now he was back at school, well rested, but dreading having to face his friends. What could he possibly tell them? How could they ever forgive him for attacking them like that? And they were sure to be freaked out by the whole bond thing.

Harry paused outside the Great Hall and took a deep breath before entering.

It only took a moment for Hermione to spot him, and soon all four of his friends had gathered around him.

"Harry, Are you okay?"

"What happened to you, mate?"

"Your eyes were all glassy and you looked like you didn't even know who we were."

"Was it Imperius?"

"Dumbledore wouldn't tell us anything, only that you were safe. Where were you?" The last question came from Hermione.

"I'm really sorry I attacked you guys last night," Harry said softly, aware that they were in a very public place. "Listen, can we go somewhere and talk in private?"

The others nodded, quickly grabbed sandwiches off the nearest platter, and followed Harry out. They headed down to the lawns and Harry sat under a tree that had lost almost all of its leaves. The others sat around him and waited for Harry to explain.

"When Voldemort had me, he was trying to get me to cross over," Harry said, figuring that starting at the beginning was the best way to go. "It was pretty awful. They brought Remus in to try and force my hand. I think they thought they could get me to kill him to save myself, and that- Well, it would have worked. I was pretty weak by then.

"Even Remus begged me to kill him to save myself, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't become the monster they wanted me to be. So we came up with another way to save me." At this point, Harry paused. How could he say this?

"It's okay, Harry," Hermione reassured. "Whatever it is, we're with you."

"Thick and thin, mate," Ron reminded him. Harry gave them a grateful smile.

"Remus thought that if he marked me, the wolf might leave me alone. And it worked." Harry said. "But there have been some complications that we didn't expect."

"Like a temper from hell?" Ron chuckled.

"Um-yeah," Harry blushed. "I'm really sorry for being such a prat the last few weeks. Dumbledore thinks the bonding is driving us to be together. We've both been a bit unbearable separated."

"So it's a true bonding, then?" Ginny wanted to know. "I thought you needed to con-." Ginny stopped and Harry blushed. "Oh!"

"What?" Neville wanted to know, and Ginny leaned in to whisper in his ear. Neville's blush almost rivaled Harry's.

"But you haven't been together at all this last month, except in the hospital wing," Hermione pointed out.

"No," Harry said. He refused to comment further. They would figure it out without his help.

"With a wolf, mate!" Ron was the first to get it.

"Okay, see, here's the thing," Harry said, flustered and trying to change the subject away from sex. "You know that glassy look you were talking about before? Well, when the wolf- calls to me- I sort of space out. Last night, I could feel that Remus was in pain and the wolf was out of control. I knew I had to get to him, no matter what it took."

"He's the alpha; he calls, you follow," Hermione nodded. "But how were you able to take out all four of us last night without ever lifting a wand? Is that something to do with the way your magic has been flaring?"

"Dumbledore thinks my magic has increased because of the bond," Harry said. "He wants me to take extra lessons. A lot of extra lessons. He's got Sirius, Remus, Bill and even Snape all working on it."

"What about Quidditch?" Ron asked indignantly.

"I've been allotted two practices a week," Harry sighed. "The rest of you will have to practice without me the other days. But I'll still be able to be in the games."

"What's Dumbledore suggest for keeping you sane?" Ginny asked. "No offense, but this is the most rational I've seen you in weeks."

"I'll be moving out of the dorms," Harry said. "Remus seems to have a calming effect on me. So Dumbledore wants me to stay at Grimmauld Place. I'll commute by floo every day."

**HPHPHP**

The rest of the day seemed to fly by for Harry. He went to classes with his friends and managed to keep both calm and easy tempered, even when provoked by Malfoy. Whenever things seemed to get too much, he simply thought of Remus and how he would be able to see him in just a few hours, which served to settle his nerves greatly.

After his last class of the day, Harry flooed back to Grimmauld Place to work on Homework before dinner and his first lesson with Sirius. Remus was waiting for him in the library, and Harry sat down on the sofa beside him. Remus settled his arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close.

"How was your day?" Remus asked, allowing himself to breathe Harry's scent in deeply.

"Better than yesterday," Harry told him. "It really helped knowing I was going to be seeing you soon."

"Before you get too deep into your homework and lesson, I think we need to talk about a couple of things."

"Like?"

Remus paused for a moment. "Have you ever been attracted to a man?"

"No," Harry sighed. "You are the first. But I don't really have all that much experience with girls either."

Remus seemed a bit disturbed by Harry's answer, but continued calmly, "I know that things have gone rather fast with Moony, but I'm not sure either of us is ready to take things further when we are both in our right minds. I really think we should take things slowly. Give ourselves time to adjust to this new situation."

Harry couldn't help but be relieved. He was attracted to Remus. Even now, with Remus' arm around him in a simple gesture of affection, he could feel the heat pooling in his gut. But he wasn't mentally ready to face what those feelings meant.

"I think that's probably for the best," Harry said as maturely as he could manage. "But-"

"Yes?"

"Could you kiss me?" Harry breathed out his request. Just because they were taking things slowly did not negate the pull he felt toward his former professor.

"I think I could do that," Remus smiled.

Remus pulled Harry even closer and looked into his eyes for any sign of doubt or uncertainty. All he saw was a reflection of the hunger he himself was feeling. Then he closed his eyes and brushed his lips against Harry's and the rest of the world faded away. All that was left was the rightness of that moment. Harry let out a sigh and Remus took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His tongue breached the sacred space of Harry's mouth and he could hold back nothing. Harry's tongue reached back to him and they were soon lost in the slow caress of tongue on tongue, a dance as old as time itself.

"Ahem!"

Harry jumped back as if he'd been burned, and Remus took a moment to glare at his best friend for so rudely interrupting. The wolf in him had sensed his mate and did not like to let go. It took a moment for him to collect himself.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sirius said, not sounding sorry at all, "but Harry really should be working on his homework if he's going to have time for lessons later."

"Yes, of course," Remus muttered. "I'll just go and get dinner started."

**HPHPHP**

Life settled into a pattern after that. Sirius was still a bit uneasy with their relationship, but he did not come right out and disparage them for it either. Harry was taking to his Animagus lessons fairly quickly, and was doing well in his other lessons as well, much to the annoyance of the Potions Master who would have liked to have had something for which to berate the boy. Even his Quidditch was better than ever.

Every night, Harry and Remus shared a bed and a few kisses before falling asleep in each others arms, but they had been very careful not to let anything more take place. Both of their bodies screamed in frustration, but their minds were still catching up, and they didn't want to test their newfound intimacy in that way.

No explanation was offered to the general populace of Hogwarts concerning Harry's sudden commuter status, although the questions were asked, especially by concerned teachers. Professor McGonagall was the most vocal in her objections; after all, no student had ever been permitted to commute to school before. Professor Snape found it quite ironic that it was she who was objecting to the special treatment that Harry was receiving with no results, and not him for a change.

The next full moon, Sirius had grave reservations about allowing Harry to be present for the change, (Harry hadn't yet perfected his Animagus transformation) but was quietly overruled by Dumbledore. Their sanity, Dumbledore pointed out, was more important than Sirius' prudish attitude. Remus laughed outright at that, knowing just how hypocritical Sirius was being. Sirius had never hesitated to experiment sexually before. Only now that it concerned his godson did he become so uptight.

Truthfully, Remus was a bit squicked by the thought as well, but he knew what the wolf needed, and he knew the consequences of denying the wolf. He would rather lose control of himself for one night than lose all sense of himself on a daily basis. For better or worse, Harry and he were tied together through this bond and they had to make it work.


	6. Padfoot's Problem

"I will attempt to teach you how to make the Wolfsbane potion," Snape declared during their potions tutorial the week after the full moon.

"Me?" Harry squeaked. He was right to be nervous. He was a mediocre potions student at best, and the Wolfsbane was a very difficult potion to brew.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," Snape smirked. "You are mated to that werewolf, and it is in both of your best interests to have a back up plan in case I cannot provide the substance. I will not expect that you get it right your first time, but I will insist that you do learn it for everyone's safety."

"Yes sir," Harry agreed and they set to work. Up to that point, Harry's potions tutorials had consisted of Snape teaching Harry how to discern one potion from another, to detect poisons, and to make general healing potions. It was a very different method of teaching than the one that Snape used in class. But their goal was not the same in these lessons. Here they were teaching Harry to survive Voldemort.

Harry had been making a lot of progress in his charms and Defense lessons with Remus, using wandless magic. Remus had always been a good teacher, and it helped that Harry liked the subjects Remus was teaching. Transfiguration was a trial. Not because of the subject, but because Sirius was so fixated on Harry's becoming an Animagus that he was not very patient with him. He was better with hand-to-hand combat. At least there, Sirius and Harry were both able to get out their frustrations in a somewhat healthy manner. Remus had decided to sit in on Harry's lessons with Bill on Arithmancy. He figured that if they needed to specialize a spell at some point, it would be helpful to have a refresher course.

Occlumency was the only subject that seemed to stump Harry entirely. Snape had no patience whatsoever for Harry's 'bumbling' attempts to block Snape from penetrating his mind, and Harry didn't have the first clue how to stop him from doing it.

Harry thought about all of those things as he watched and tried to learn the secret to keeping his mate sane during the full moon. When they had reached a pause in the process, Harry ventured to broach the subject.

"Sir?" Harry said timidly. "I know we are not dealing with occlumency today, but could you give me some hint as to how I'm supposed to try and block you from entering my mind?"

Snape snorted, and then glared. "Are you not the one who could throw off the Imperius curse in your fourth year? How did you do that?"

Harry thought about it. "I'm not really sure, sir. I just knew that the voice telling me to do those things wasn't my own and I chose to ignore it. It wasn't easy, but I learned to differentiate between the two voices. Mine and the other."

"Occlumency is not much different," Snape said. "You need to pay attention to your own mind. If you know yourself, you should have no trouble sorting things out for yourself. Now, hand me the dragon's blood."

**HPHPHP**

Harry considered Snape's words over the next two days. It wasn't really the same as throwing off the Imperius; he knew the moment that Snape entered his mind that there was a foreign presence. But he hadn't known when Voldemort had started interfering in his dreams. And throwing someone from your mind wasn't quite as easy as choosing to listen to your own mind. Or was it?

"Are you ready?" Snape asked Harry as they sat down in the library for their lesson. Harry nodded and pulled his wand. "Legilimens!"

Harry felt the now familiar sensation of another person occupying his mind. For a moment he was overwhelmed by the memories that Snape dragged up to peruse: Dudley beating the shit out of him, Vernon doing the same, Sirius giving him a hug, Moony fu-

"No!" Harry didn't even realize he was shouting. He was suddenly motivated to keep Snape from seeing that particular memory and shoved the foreign presence from his mind. He was panting with the effort, but he could feel Snape starting to give way. And it was like throwing off the Imperius. He simply needed to know he could do it, believe that he could block his mind, and it became all so clear.

"Very good," Snape panted once the battle had been concluded. "I see you have finally found something to properly motivate you into action. Now let's see if you can do it again. Legilimens!"

And for the next hour, Harry fought valiantly against Snapes intrusions. Now that he understood how to do it, it became easier and easier to block the man. It was simply a matter of will against will. And Harry had always been a stubborn sort.

"Next week, we will begin on Legilimency," Snape said as he gathered his cloak to leave. "But do not think that we are finished with this subject. I will continue to test you when you least suspect it. You need to always be on your guard. The Dark Lord will not wait for you to be prepared."

"Yes, sir," Harry grinned. He'd done well, and even Snape had to admit it, in his own twisted way.

When Snape was gone, Harry rushed to the kitchen to find Remus. Without thinking, he gave him a huge hug and kiss.

"I did it!" Harry gushed. "I finally blocked Snape! And he wants to start on Legilimency next week!"

"I knew you could do it," Remus beamed at him and hugged Harry tightly. It was then that Harry noticed Sirius sitting at the table and scowling into his teacup.

"Sirius?" Harry said tentatively. "Aren't you happy for me?"

"Of course," Sirius muttered, but he didn't sound very convincing. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled, suddenly feeling not so happy. "I-I'm going to bed."

When Harry had left the room, Remus turned on his oldest friend. "What the hell is the matter with you? You crushed the boy. He's been working so hard to master occlumency and you can't even be happy for him when he succeeds?"

"Boy! You said it, not me, but he is a boy," Sirius raged. "I can't stand sitting here watching him throw his life away with a man twenty years older than him! He's so messed up by this mating thing, he can't see straight!"

"Is that what this is about?" Remus shouted. "Would you rather he was dead? Or a werewolf? Or do you think I should have been the one to die? Is that what you want?"

"No!" Sirius yelled, and then deflated like a balloon. "No. I don't want to lose you. Either of you."

Remus watched the tears well up in his friend's eyes and suddenly understood. This wasn't about age or bestiality or any other excuse Sirius had come up with to object to their relationship.

"We're both still here, Pads," Remus said softly, sitting down beside his old friend. "We're here, and we aren't going anywhere. Voldemort didn't take us from you. And neither will this relationship. We both love you very much. But if you don't get your head out of your ass and stop being a bloody prick, we might just have to knock some sense into you."

"You don't need me anymore," Sirius said quietly. "Neither of you. You have each other."

"That doesn't mean we don't need you," Remus argued. "Yes, things are changing, but we love you and we need you."

"Harry doesn't," Sirius muttered. "He used to come to me when he was excited about stuff."

"I do still need you," Harry said from the doorway. The two older wizards looked up, startled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I forgot my book bag. But Sirius, you have to know I'll always need you. You're the closest thing to a father I've ever known."

Sirius looked at Harry for a long minute then got up and pulled his godson into his arms. "I'm sorry for being such a complete prat," he muttered into Harry's messy hair.

"S'okay," Harry chuckled. "Wouldn't expect any less from you."

Sirius pushed Harry away with mock effrontery. "Oi! Have a little respect! I am still your godfather!" And then they were all laughing in relief.

**HPHPHP**

The Order meeting a few nights later broke up, but Snape stayed behind nursing his cup of coffee and waiting for the headmaster to complete his business with Moody before they flooed out together. Sirius Black returned to the almost empty kitchen and warily sat down beside the snarky man he had always despised.

Snape had surprised Sirius once again by taking up for Harry when several of the Order Members had wanted to ban Harry from joining the Order because he was still in school. Snape had reasoned that Harry had faced Voldemort more often than any member of the order and he was the key to defeating the megalomaniac, therefore he should be included in the plans to do just that. Sirius had been impressed.

"What do you want Black?" Snape almost growled.

"You don't like me, and I don't like you," Black said as coolly as he could. He would not let the man get him riled up. He would say what he needed to say and be done with it. "But I wanted to thank you."

"For?" Snape drawled.

"Helping Harry," Sirius said.

"I was merely following orders, if you recall," Snape said.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed. The man couldn't make anything easy. "But you didn't have to speak up for him tonight. And you didn't have to teach him how to make the Wolfsbane. That was rather decent of you."

Snape actually seemed a bit discomfited by the gratitude and shrugged, which was totally out of character for the austere man.

"I still think you're a bastard," Sirius grinned, willing to put them back on more familiar ground. "But you aren't a _complete_ bastard."

"I do so love these little chats," Snape sneered. "If you will excuse me, I believe that the headmaster should be ready to leave by now." And with that, Snape swept from the room.

Sirius sighed and began cleaning up the kitchen. For some strange reason, watching Snape help Harry over the past weeks, no matter how surly the man was, had given Sirius a new respect for his one time enemy. Sirius had begun to wonder how much he'd missed in the enigmatic man because of their stupid schoolboy rivalry. But it was obvious that Snape couldn't let the past go quite so easily.

Sirius sighed again and left the dishes to clean themselves. He'd put them away in the morning.


	7. Hello, Puppy!

"Remus!" Sirius shouted and the werewolf came running.

"What is it?" Remus panted as he entered the library at a trot, wand raised. "Is something wrong with Harry?" But as Remus looked around the room, he noted that Harry was sitting calmly beside the fire, and Sirius was grinning at him.

"Nothing's wrong," Sirius said. "I just thought you'd like to see this. Go on Harry."

Harry, who was also grinning foolishly, rose from his seat and began the familiar change into his Animagus form. In an instant, where once stood the familiar form of Harry, there now stood a small, dark grey wolf. His fur was almost black everywhere except for a smudge of white above one eye. Remus breath caught in his throat. He was beautiful.

"Great huh?" Sirius smiled fondly at his godson.

Harry changed back. "Do you think the wolf form is because of the infection?"

"More than likely," Remus replied, regaining some of his composure. "As I told you before, there is now a part of you that is wolf, even without being completely turned."

"So I guess we'll never know what animal I could have been," Harry sighed. He wasn't unhappy with his wolf form, but a part of him had always thought he'd be a stag like his father.

"James would have been proud of you regardless of what animal form you took," Remus told him. It was kind of eerie to have someone know his mind so well, know his emotions, to the point where he could almost read his mind.

"Thanks," Harry replied.

"Just think," Sirius grinned. "We can all go out running the next full moon. I know Moony will want a bit of alone time, but won't it be fun to run again, Remus? And now we have to come up with a nickname for the newest Marauder."

"He's rather small for a wolf," Remus commented. "Even Pads is bigger. And his coat is unusually dark."

"I think we should call him Blackie! Or Midnight!"

"Do I have a say in this?" Harry asked with a smirk of amusement.

"No," came the unequivocal reply from both men.

"He's not black," Remus told Sirius, ignoring Harry's laughter. "He's more of a charcoal gray. I was thinking more along the lines of Shadow or Smoke."

"Oh sweet Merlin," Harry moaned.

"Listen up puppy," Sirius growled playfully. "You didn't get to choose your given name and you don't get a say in your nickname either."

"Hm…Puppy, Pup, Pip." Remus brainstormed out loud. "Something to do with ink, India ink. India. I like India," Remus finally announced.

"Hm, India," Sirius tried it out. "Indy for short?"

"Works for me," Remus grinned and turned to Harry. "Welcome to the Marauders, Indy. As it's a Friday night, I think we could stand to celebrate your initiation into the brotherhood."

"I'll get the firewhisky," Sirius pronounced.

An hour later, Harry was pissed, and Remus and Sirius were well on their way.

"India." Sirius said.

"Yes, Pads?" Harry slurred.

"Nothing," Sirius shrugged. "Just seeing how it sounds."

"With your black hair and green eyes, I've always thought you looked a bit exotic," Remus opined. "Now you have a name that fits. Much better than Harry. What were your parents thinking?"

"You'd have to tell me," Harry laughed.

"Hormones!" Sirius declared. "Your mum was full of them when she was preggers. Drove all of us mad. And poor James didn't have the heart to argue with her."

"I remember one time when she sent Prongs out to find curry and fudge ripple ice cream in the middle of the night. Poor bastard spent three hours finding the stuff and by the time he got back, she was sound asleep."

"Made us all crazy getting your nursery ready, too." Sirius told him. "Made us move the furniture around six times before she was pleased."

"Yeah, and it all ended up exactly the way we had put it in the first time." Remus said.

"She said that she needed to see the other options before making up her mind," Sirius chuckled.

"James wanted to strangle her!" Remus laughed, then sobered. "Gods, I miss them."

"Me too," Sirius sighed. They both looked over to Harry to see his reaction, but he had fallen asleep to the sounds of their reminiscing.

**HPHPHP**

"I'd like an update on Harry's progress," Dumbledore told the three men in his office. It was just a few days before the Christmas holidays, and Dumbledore had called Sirius Remus and Snape in for a meeting.

"Mr. Potter is doing better than I expected in Occlumency, Legilimency and Potions," Snape drawled. "He seems to be able to concentrate better than I have ever before witnessed in him."

"His wandless magic is progressing quickly as well," Remus added.

"What about self-defense?" the headmaster inquired.

"Between his increased strength and his natural athletic abilities, he could probably take out anyone in a one on one situation," Sirius said. "We need to work more on multiple attackers, though."

"You cover those lessons on Sundays?" Dumbledore asked and Sirius nodded. "Good, I'll ask Kingsley and Tonks to come by next week to help out. Now about the holidays. I have already told Harry that he will not be able to stay with the Weasleys, despite their kind invitation. I think we should all spend the time focusing on continuing Harry's training.

"I'm afraid that our time is running short." Dumbledore continued. "Voldemort is gearing up for a major attack, and Harry needs to be ready for it. Severus, I'm asking you to spend as much time with the boy as possible, over the holidays. That means staying at Grimmauld Place. You need to teach him as much about the Death Eaters and their individual strengths and weaknesses as possible. I also want the four of you to start researching how Harry can defeat Voldemort."

Dumbledore paused and gave both Sirius and Severus a meaningful look. "I don't think I need to remind any of you just how important it is that we set aside any and all personal grievances for the sake of Harry and the cause. You are all adults. Remember it."

Severus glared at his employer, but Sirius just gave him a thoughtful look. Perhaps this would be the perfect opportunity to get to know the man he'd never bothered getting to know as a boy.


	8. Developing Senses

"Have you had a look at this book yet, Remus?" Harry asked as the four men sat in the library at Grimmauld Place a few days after the holidays began. Remus took the book and read the page that Harry had been studying and noted the subject matter dealt with soul rituals and cleansing.

"This could be useful," Remus mused. "Severus, take a look at this. If we can determine the method Voldemort used to survive the last time, perhaps we can counter it.

Severus, in turn, looked at the book and sat back into his chair, reading silently for a few minutes. "The rituals are certainly dark enough. They would be right up the Dark Lord's alley, but if he did use one of these rituals, I'm not sure how we can counter the effects. The most likely ritual for him to have used splits the soul from the body, so that if the body dies, the soul will detach until it can be reanimated."

"Okay, but look here," Sirius said, holding out another book for the others to see. "These binding spells may help. None of them deal directly with a completely detached soul, but the concept is similar." The book was on how to capture a piece of one's soul into an inanimate object, such as a portrait for posterity.

"We should discuss the possibility of tailoring one of these spells with Bill when he's here," Harry said as he looked at the book Sirius had been studying.

"I hate to put a damper on this enthusiasm," Snape said sarcastically, "but there is still the small matter of actually killing the bastard."

"One problem at a time," Remus smiled. "I have faith in Harry's ability to get the task done, even if we aren't sure how that will happen yet."

Harry grinned happily at his mate. For the first time since learning about Voldemort, Harry actually thought he might have a chance of surviving. And it was all thanks to Remus. Not only had their mating changed Harry's magic, being with Remus had changed Harry's confidence level. The man gave him hope for a better life after Voldemort.

"Alright," Snape sighed. "I'll try to narrow down the possible rituals the Bastard might have used. Sirius, I suggest you look into the Dementors. They have obviously found a way to destroy the soul separate from the body. And Harry and Remus can keep working on ways to trap the soul as a last resort. I don't know about you, but I would rather his soul was completely gone, rather than just trapped. Removes the possibility for an untimely return."

Sirius got up and went to the stacks and found all the books he could on Dementors. As he searched, he thought again of Severus (when had he become Severus in his mind?) and how different he was from how Sirius had always imagined. The past few months had shown him a side of the snarky potions master that he'd never seen before. Sure Remus had told him over and over that there was more to the man than they had been able to see as children, but his own anger had blinded him from seeing it first hand. Now, he was beginning to understand. And he had noticed Severus loosening up as well. Had the man really just called him by his given name?

Severus was fiercely loyal, extremely intelligent, and though he tended to hide behind sarcasm and cruelty, he had shown himself to be more caring through his actions than his words. He hid behind his austere and abrasive attitude, much the same way Sirius tended to hide behind jokes. Perhaps they had more in common than Sirius had ever been willing to admit before.

Sirius allowed himself to think about his family, something he usually tried desperately to avoid. They had been so full of themselves; espousing notions of purity of blood and practicing dark magic. From everything he knew of the Snapes, they had been just as bad. Sirius had seen in Severus from the first, everything he'd hated about his own family. What if Severus had just been dealing with his family's pressures in a different way? He'd obviously changed sides somewhere along the line. What if he'd only been trying to survive the only way he knew how?

Sirius went back by the fire and was surprised to find Severus reading alone. "Where'd Harry and Remus go?"

"Dinner," Snape replied curtly without even looking up.

Sirius sat down and tried to screw his Gryffindor courage up. "May I ask you something personal?"

"I don't see how I could possibly stop you," Snape said. "The real question is will I answer?"

"Why'd you do it? Why did you take the Dark Mark?"

Snape finally looked up from his text and glared at Sirius. "What are you after, Black?"

"I don't know," Sirius admitted. "I guess I just want to understand. You seem so intelligent and strong, and you've spent the better part of your life fighting against Voldemort. I just was wondering what changed."

Severus continued to glare, and Sirius was about to chalk it up to a lost cause when Severus spoke. "I am a Slytherin. While some may believe that that fact means that I automatically espouse the darkest side of our world, it does not. What it does mean is that I know how and when to fight. I was a boy. Barely seventeen years old, and I was given a choice, take the mark or face my father's wrath. I chose the path of least resistance."

Snape paused and seemed to be reliving some terrible memory. "When my father died, I had the first opportunity to really look at my life and make decisions on my own. I decided that following a maniac was no longer the lesser of two evils and went to Dumbledore. Don't get any foolish ideas. There was no idiotic need to support the great cause. I have spent my life simply trying to survive it."

"So why go back and spy?"

Snape snorted. "Do you really think I would be safer if I told the Dark Lord to just bugger off? Once you pledge your life to the Bastard, there is no turning back. A concept I believe your brother found out to his detriment."

"Yes," Sirius sighed. "Regulus was always a bit thick and stubborn. He wouldn't listen to anyone. My parents were not pleased when he joined Voldemort. Not that they didn't believe in his cause, they just thought it was beneath a Black to pledge themselves in service to anyone. I think his death is what finally put my father out of his misery. So I guess I have something to be grateful to Reg for."

"Indeed," Severus snorted. "No offense, Black, but your family put the Malfoys to shame when came to shear arrogance."

"It's a curse," Sirius chuckled. "No matter how I tried to be different from my family, I never could shake that arrogance. Got me into trouble more times than I care to remember."

"I remember," Severus said quietly, and suddenly the memory of the Shrieking Shack loomed over both of them.

"I know you may not believe this, but I really am sorry for that," Sirius sighed. "I never really believed you would be in danger. Stupid, I know, but Moony was my friend, not a monster. At least in my head. I just thought he'd give you a scare and you'd leave us alone for a while. You reminded me of my family, and I really hated them. I didn't want any reminders of them."

"We all have our demons, I suppose," Severus said. It wasn't forgiveness, but Sirius thought that it might just be understanding. It was a start.

**HPHPHP**

"Harry? Are you listening to me?" Remus sighed in exasperation.

"Huh? Oh sorry?" Harry grinned sheepishly. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Have you noticed anything odd about Sirius lately?"

"Like the fact that he hasn't once hexed or even insulted Severus since we all got here?" Remus chuckled.

"Exactly!" Harry said. "It's not natural."

"I don't think it's anything to worry about," Remus told his mate as they set the table for dinner. "I think maybe Sirius is finally growing up."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, adding glasses of wine to the table.

"Well, he was barely older than you when he went to Azkaban," Remus sighed and sat down. Harry joined him, and Remus continued. "He never had time to get past the adolescent grudges he held against Severus. Since everything that has happened with you and me, he's been forced to see another side of Severus that none of us knew when we were kids."

"There's something else, though," Harry maintained. "He smells different."

"Harry? Are your senses starting to develop?"

"I guess so," Harry shrugged. "Its nothing very obvious, but I know that something has changed."

"I think you are sensing his pheromones," Remus mused. "I've noticed them too."

"His pheromones? You mean the scent people put out when they are attracted to someone?" Harry was a bit disconcerted by that idea. "But we're talking about Snape!"

"Yes we are," Remus smiled. "He's a rather sexy man, Harry. Surely you've noticed that?"

"To be honest, I try never to think about him, or any of my professors, in that way." Harry returned, giving Remus an embarrassed shrug.

"Well, I'm not even sure that Sirius recognizes the attraction, so it's nothing to worry about yet."

Just then the kitchen door swung open and Severus and Sirius entered looking oddly pleased with each other.

"Is dinner ready?" Sirius said. "'Cause I'm starving!"

**HPHPHP**

"Remus?" Harry whispered into the darkness that night as they lay in bed. There was a slight tremble in his voice, as though he was nervous about something.

"What is it, Harry?" Remus asked as he hugged Harry closer to him in reassurance. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I- I think I'm falling in love with you," Harry said and moved to face his bond mate. "These last few weeks…"

"I know," smiled Remus. "They have been quite wonderful for me as well. And I've been falling in love with you as well."

"Really?" There was both hope and fear in Harry's question. "I'm scared though."

"Of what?"

"Of losing you," Harry said, his face buried in Remus' chest. "I'm scared that Voldemort will find a way to ruin everything."

"We won't let that happen," Remus promised fiercely, his wolf instincts kicking in, and demanding that he protect his mate from whatever danger he perceived. "You belong to me now. I will never allow anyone to come between us."

"Can we make love?" Harry sighed. "I know we said we'd take things slow, but I- I need you, Remus. I ache for you. I feel so empty inside."

Remus turned Harry in his arms so he could look deeply into those desperate green eyes. There was no fear there, only need and nervousness. Harry was coming to accept his instincts, and Remus found it impossible to turn his mate away when he was so obviously offering himself.

"Merlin, Harry," Remus groaned before crushing his lips to Harry's in a desperate kiss that stole the breath from each of them and left them achingly aroused. Remus pulled away several minutes later and whispered, "You know that once we do this, the bond will more than likely be even stronger. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Positive," Harry grinned and allowed the hand that had been resting on Remus' chest to slip slowly down until he reached his firm cock and stroked it through Remus' boxers. Remus growled, the wolf nudging any sanity he'd been grasping aside, and rolled Harry beneath him. Harry looked surprised, but his eyes darkened with excitement. Remus ground his hips against Harry's, aligning their cocks and creating a delicious friction.

"Naked," Remus ordered breathlessly. "Now!"

Harry was quick to comply, shedding his own boxers as Remus reached for the nightstand. They had waited so long and neither of them had the patience for much foreplay. The wolf may have been stronger in Remus, but Harry's instincts were screaming at him to satisfy his mate.

"Get on all fours."

When Harry was positioned, Remus used quick efficient strokes to prepare his lover, strokes which nearly had Harry sobbing with need.

After only a few strokes with two fingers, Harry already panting and begging for Remus to fuck him. Remus gave up trying to be gentle; it was obvious tenderness wasn't what either of them wanted or needed in that moment. Quickly positioning himself behind Harry, Remus thrust his cock deep and held still for a moment as he regained the breath that had been forced out of his lungs. Harry seemed to be trembling beneath him, but it seemed to be more with need than pain, so Remus slowly pulled out and thrust again. Harry howled as his Prostate was stimulated and began pushing back against each thrust as Remus fucked him fast and hard.

Harry buried his head in the pillows and rocked back against Remus as his eyes lost focus and bursts of colored lights began exploding in behind his eyelids. He was so close and it felt so perfect. When Remus wrapped his hand around Harry's prick and began stroking in time to his brutal thrusts, Harry lost it and found himself falling over the edge of an abyss, but Remus was right there with him, falling and holding him.

It took a few minutes for the two wizards to come to their senses, but eventually, Remus groaned and rolled off Harry's back, his cock squelching as it pulled out of Harry's abused ass.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked, stroking the hair from Harry's face as he pulled the young man into his arms.

"I think I might be a bit sore tomorrow, but that was brilliant," Harry smiled.

Remus chuckled, "I don't think every time will be quite so wild, but I couldn't help losing control like that. The wolf knew what it wanted, and I have been denying its desires for too long."

"Hmm," Harry agreed. "Much too long. We'll just have to make sure we do that again soon. Maybe even a couple of times a day."

Harry sounded so serious that Remus couldn't help but laugh. "Sleep, brat. I'm too old to go again quite this soon."

"Yes, sir," Harry said with a mocking salute, but curled up into his lovers arms with a bright smile that didn't leave his face even as he fell into a sated sleep.


	9. The Morning After

"Ahhwooooo... Werewolves of London, Ahwooooo!"

"What the hell?" Sirius asked groggily as he shuffled into the kitchen. He had never been a morning person, but to see Remus singing along to the stereo into a spatula and dancing around the cook-top was a bit much at seven in the morning. "What's wrong with you?"

Remus just laughed and kept singing and humming along. "You hear him howling around your kitchen door, you better not let him in…"

Sirius muttered and shook his head as he slumped into a seat at the table. Remus danced his way over and slid a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Sirius. "Geez, I haven't seen you like this since…"

And that's when his foggy brain cleared.

"Ahhwooooo... Werewolves of London, Ahwooooo!"

"Morning Sirius!" Harry chirped happily as he entered the kitchen and took his seat. Remus brought him another plate of food and Sirius couldn't help but notice the sly smiles and blushes exchanged between his best friend and his godson. "Good morning, Remus."

"It is, isn't it?" Remus smiled and took his seat beside Harry. Sirius just stared at the two of them.

 _I'm okay with this_ , Sirius repeated to himself over and over again, as if the repetition could make it true.

"Um…so," Sirius tried. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Okay, so you, um, slept well, then?"

"Brilliantly," Harry grinned and Remus blushed.

"It was a wonderful night," Remus finally agreed.

"Much better than the rest of ours, apparently," Severus drawled from the doorway. When Remus would have stood to serve him a plate, Severus waved him away. "I can serve myself. I think you should reserve your strength as much as possible. You aren't a teenager anymore, after all."

Sirius watched his childhood nemesis with narrowed eyes, but realized that the man had actually been teasing, a fact that was not lost on Remus, who was laughing despite his blush.

"You wish you could be as bloody young as I feel right now," Remus grinned and looked at Harry again. Harry had the good sense to blush.

"I think I'm losing my appetite," Severus snarked, but proceeded to tuck into his breakfast with obvious enthusiasm. "At least you haven't started with the public displays of affection. As I recall, you were quite well known for snogging in the corridors when we were in school."

"Really?" Harry asked. "With who?"

"Whom," Remus corrected automatically while he shot Severus a dirty look. "Well, you see, I was young and…"

"What the wolf is reluctant to tell you, Potter, is that there really never was just one," Severus smirked.

"Remus, you slut!" Harry teased. "It's always the quiet ones!"

"Werewolf hormones tend to be a bit more potent than those of the average teen," Remus huffed. "I was simply trying to burn off all of that excess energy in a healthy way."

"Much healthier than eating the students," Severus muttered. "Oh, but I guess you did that too."

"And how do you know so much about my sex life in school?" Remus asked with a devilishly innocent look on his face. Severus just glared.

"Come on, Professor. Give," Harry said to his Potions Master.

"Fine," Severus snapped. "I happened to be unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of the wolf's affections for a brief period of time."

"Unlucky?" Remus smirked. "I don't think that's how you saw it at the time. As I recall, there was quite a bit of begging and moaning involved in that 'brief period of time'."

Harry laughed an Severus scowled. "I think I have definitely lost my appetite." Severus got up and put his plate into the sink. Remus got up and followed him.

"Come on, Severus, I was just teasing…"

Once they were gone, Harry chuckled again for a moment before realizing that Sirius had been exceptionally quiet during the entire exchange.

"You okay?"

"Um, what?" Sirius said before looking up at Harry. "Oh, yeah. Just thinking."

"I know this isn't easy for you," Harry said quietly. "But I hope you can accept this eventually. He makes me happy, Sirius. And I hope I do the same for him. However this all started, I think it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me."

Sirius gave Harry a sad smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you and Remus. You both deserve a little happiness. It's really not you that has me in a funk lately."

Harry looked at his godfather for a long minute before deciding to speak. "It's Snape, isn't it?" When Sirius just gave Harry a shocked look, he continued. "I've been developing keener senses. I could smell something odd when you and Snape were around each other. Remus said it was pheromones."

"Harry…"

"It's okay, you know," Harry pushed on with a shrug. "I don't really see it. I mean, he's a good guy and all. He's made a lot of sacrifices for the war and saved my ass more than once, but…Well, I'm not the one who would wake up to his snarling face every morning. But if that's what you want, I can accept it. You should really go after him if he's who you want. You deserve a little happiness, too."

Sirius looked truly gob-smacked by the time Harry finished his little speech. "Harry… I… Merlin, I'm going to strangle that bloody werewolf!"

**HPHPHP**

"How is Harry's training progressing?" Albus asked several nights later. They were all seated around the kitchen table at #12 Grimmauld Place discussing the events of the holidays so far.

"Surprisingly well," Snape said. "Mr. Potters wandless skills have reached a more than acceptable level, as has his work all his lessons."

"Does that mean he is ready?" Albus asked.

Harry bristled at the way the 'adults' continually talked around him, as if he had no say in his own life. "I am ready, I am of age, and I am in the room."

"So sorry, my boy," Dumbledore twinkled. "We do have a tendency to leave you out of things. It is not my intention. What have you found in the way of destroying Voldemort?"

"We have discovered several possible methods, but I think the best one combines a ritualistic soul cleansing spell with a simple killing curse," Harry stated, silently acknowledging Dumbledore's apology with a nod. "It will take time to perform the ritual, however, and Voldemort will not willingly give us that time. Therefore, we need to concentrate on distracting him while the ritual is being performed. At the same time, the Death Eaters will most assuredly be present to protect their master, and will have to be dealt with."

"Any suggestions?" Dumbledore addressed his questions to the room in general.

"Actually, yes," Snape spoke up. "Black and I will protect Harry and Remus from any immediate threat while the Order deals with the Death Eaters. Remus and Harry will work together to perform the ritual cleansing, then Harry will be free to finish off the Dark Lord."

"I'm not sure…"

"Remus and I are the best equipped to handle Voldemort," Harry interrupted. "Remus' werewolf abilities will protect him from the worst Voldemort can offer, while I use some of this new found knowledge these three have been drilling into my head for the last several months. It is the best plan."

Remus took Harry's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He knew Harry wasn't comfortable having him in the thick of things. It was something they had argued over for a long time, but now that the plan was set, Harry was defending it as if he had been the one to come up with it. Remus was very proud of the way Harry had grown up in the last months.

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "When do you think we can have everything ready?"

"New Year's day," Harry stated firmly. "I want this over with before school is back in session and the other students are in danger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Remus is singing in the first scene is "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zeevon.


	10. Settling Anxieties

"Tomorrow's the big day," Sirius said in a falsely bored tone as he moved to take the seat beside Severus in the library.

"You have a talent for stating the obvious," Severus snarked without looking up from the book he was reading.

"Yeah, well, I just thought since we could all die tomorrow…"

Severus finally looked up at Sirius with a smirk. "Yes? Please continue."

"Never mind," Sirius muttered and stood to leave. As he was passing Severus' chair, he felt long cool fingers wrap around his arm and pull him to a halt. Sirius refused to look at the man and give him the satisfaction of seeing his embarrassment. Or worse, his disappointment.

"I would not be averse to a night of shared comfort and carnality," Severus said quietly. This got Sirius' attention, and he turned to look at his former rival. "One night, Black. Do not let your Gryffindor idiocy make you believe that this is more than what it is."

Sirius looked into Severus' eyes and saw something there that he'd never noticed before. There was fear about the coming battle, but Sirius had seen fear before. There was pride, but that was a common sight on this man. No, what surprised him was the layer of insecurity hiding a glimmer of hope. Was that hope for the battle? Or was it a bit more personal?

"Of course not," Sirius lied. "My room or yours?"

**HPHPHP**

Harry paced the bedroom, too full of energy and nervous tension to sit still. Remus watched him with a mixture of sadness and amusement. It wasn't right that a boy so young should have to bear the weight of the world upon his shoulders. His instincts screamed for him to take Harry and run as far away from the danger as they could go, but the danger would follow them. So, instead, he stood as Harry made another pass and clasped his young mate in his arms, sharing his warmth and protection.

"It will be alright," Remus told him. "You have trained for this, and you are a very powerful wizard. Voldemort won't know what hit him. And I will be by your side the entire time."

"That's what has me worried," Harry said darkly, but allowed himself to relax in his mate's arms. "Make love to me Remus. I want to feel you inside of me. I want to remember how you feel, how you taste, what you sound like when you claim me. I want to forget tomorrow just for a little while."

Remus smiled at Harry and kissed him softly. "How can I refuse you anything, my love?"

**HPHPHP**

"As the door to Severus' room closed behind them, they shared no words. They were too busy tearing at the others clothes, trying to bury almost thirty years of animosity with kisses and licks and bites. They mouths fused together while their tongues met and caressed and danced together in a way that spoke of dominance and possession; just who was possessing whom was up for debate.

Sirius had managed to remove Severus' robes and shirt and now kissed his way down Severus' neck to his collar, and finally took one small pink nipple between his teeth. Severus groaned and held the dark head closer, silently demanding more. Sirius was happy to oblige and laved the pebbled nub lightly before suckling and biting once again. Then he moved to the other nipple while his hands went to the belt of his lover's trousers. Sirius moaned when he finally felt the heated flesh of Severus' cock heavy in his hands. It was hard and thick, and Sirius wanted just a taste.

Dropping to his knees, Sirius gave into his craving and let his lips and tongue explore the throbbing flesh. He licked his way up and down, savoring the musky flavors and the soft moans equally, before continuing down to investigate the heavy bollocks below. They were full and fit perfectly into his mouth, one at a time. Severus tightened his hold on Sirius' hair but did not pull him away. Sirius moved back up to take the cock into his mouth, sucking on the head while he teased the small opening with the tip of his tongue. That brought a surprised shout from the normally reserved Slytherin and Sirius tucked this knowledge away for future reference before swallowing Severus whole.

One hand grasping Severus' thigh while the other gently kneaded his testicles, Sirius set a steady rhythm. Interspersing deep plunges with teasing licks and nibbles on the sensitive glans, Sirius worked Severus into a slow frenzy of need. Sirius' own cock was aching to be freed from its confines, to be touched and stroked, but he held back, wanting to give Severus everything he had, to say with his body what he knew he could not say with words.

Eventually, Severus did pull Sirius away from him, both men panting with lust and a need for completion. "Enough of that," Severus purred. "As talented as that mouth of yours is, I think there are better ways to spend our time."

**HPHPHP**

Remus and Harry moved slowly together, not wanting or needing to rush things. Their kisses were slow and tender, their caresses sure and comfortable. They shared their fledgling love with gentle touches before breaking apart to slowly disrobe and climbing into bed.

They were still learning each other, but there was the beginning of awareness now that only time and devotion develop. They met in the center of their shared bed and held each other, their bodies moving in a slow slide of arousal as Remus moved over his young lover. Their kisses deepened and their need became more pronounced as their bodies created a sweet friction where they met and trapped both erections between them.

"Please, Moony, I need…" Harry choked on a sob. It was too much and not yet enough. Their emotions were as stimulating as the feel of flesh on flesh. "Please…"

Remus brushed damp hair from Harry's brow and wiped a lone tear from his cheek. "Hush, love. I will give you what you need."

Remus shifted to one side, and pulled Harry into position, so that his back was to Remus' chest. Shifting Harry's top leg forward, Remus unhurriedly prepared his mate while Harry gasped and clutched the pillow beneath his head. Minutes later, Remus carefully pushed his cock through the barrier of muscles in one long leisurely thrust. Harry cried out in his need for more, for harder, for faster…but Remus wanted to draw it out, make this perfect moment last forever. Gentle rocking motions stimulated them both to the edge and no further. It was achingly beautiful in its purity and love.

"Please…" Harry whimpered again.

This time Remus gave in to Harry's plea, and without speeding up at all, he drove just a bit harder, stroked Harry just a bit more firmly. And when his teeth found that spot, the place where he had marked Harry once before, and renewed that wound, creating just a sting of pain, giving just a taste of blood, reclaiming and reassuring, it was suddenly sufficient.

Tears of joy and love and uncertainty stained two faces as they continued to hold each other tightly.

**HPHPHP**

"How do you want me?" Sirius asked as he stood and began shedding the rest of his clothes.

"Inside of me," Severus smirked at the surprise on his new lover's face. "This time."

Sirius knew better than to argue with such a gift and quickly joined Severus on the bed. The few moments of talk had brought reality back in on them and Sirius hesitated for a heartbeat, unsure how to go on from there.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Severus groused and pulled the Animagus on top of him and captured his lips in a fiery kiss that melted any further vacillation away like ice in a hot cup of tea. Sirius didn't need any more prompting; he quickly took control of the situation, tasting and teasing every inch of exposed flesh while he could. "Enough foreplay," Severus groaned, obviously having lost all true snark in the sensations Sirius was creating. "Just get on with it. Fuck me already, you mutt."

Sirius lifted his head so he could look directly into the spy's eyes. He saw need and lust and impatience there, and again that spark of hope. Sirius grinned in response and reached for the vial of lubricant Severus had summoned before. Positioning Severus' feet wide apart and flat on the bed, Sirius made sure he had adequate access to the gift Severus had granted him.

The picture of wanton debauchery Severus presented was too much for Sirius to resist. Before opening the vial, h leaned in to kiss and suck at the pretty pink pucker before him. Severus grabbed his legs and pulled them back, encouraging more from his partner, and Sirius was happy to oblige and darted his tongue out to taste and tease Severus' hole. After only a few minutes of this, Severus was writhing almost uncontrollably, small whimpers and mewling noises were flowing in an almost continuous stream from his lips, punctuated by curses and endearments. Sirius was pretty sure that Severus had no idea what he was saying at that particular moment.

Eventually, Sirius opened the vial and replaced his mouth with his fingers, stretching the already relaxed entrance. Yes, tasting had been very good idea all around, Sirius decided. In minutes, Sirius was leaning over his recalcitrant lover, now completely and utterly flustered, and coaxing his cock into the body beneath him. Both men let out a loud groan when Severus canted his hips while pulling at Sirius' ass and forced Sirius inside in one long quick stroke. Sirius had to hold himself perfectly still to regain some semblance of control, lest the experience was over entirely too quickly to satisfy either man.

He started with slow shallow thrusts, but Severus was not having any of that. He countered every thrust and demanded more with both his body and his words.

"Harder, damn you!"

"Faster! Fuck me faster!"

"I'm not going to break, Black! Now fuck me!"

And so Sirius did.

**HPHPHP**

"I wonder what Snape and Sirius are doing right about now," Harry murmured. He was sated and sleepy, but not quite ready to sleep just yet.

"I would guess, knowing Siri as I do, that they are probably doing what we just did," Remus chuckled. "Sirius never handled stress very well, and usually looked for sexual release to ease the way."

"And Snape is too Slytherin to turn him down," Harry mused. "Even if they had still been at each other's throats, I doubt Snape would have turned down such an opportunity. After all, he can use this to torment Siri for years to come."

"Assuming he wants to torment Siri," Remus said gently as he stroked Harry's hair. "Those pheromones you have been picking up on aren't just coming from Siri you know."

Harry sighed and snuggled a bit closer to Remus. "I know. But I still don't like thinking of my professors' sex lives. At all."

They were both quiet for a time and Harry almost thought that Remus had gone to sleep until he heard his familiar husky voice.

"We'll be okay, you know. He's not going to take anyone else we love. I'll make sure of that."

"We're pack," Harry smiled sleepily. "Even the git."

"Pack," Remus agreed.

**HPHPHP**

Sirius collapsed onto his side, his body half on top of Severus still, but he had too little energy left to truly care. They were both soaked with sweat and sticky with semen; the air in the room reeked of sex. Sirius thought the moment was perfect. Until…

"Get off of me mutt," Severus growled. "You're heavy!"

Sirius rolled his eyes where Severus could not see and rolled off of his lover. Maybe perfect was to lofty a term.

"And do something about this mess," Severus grumped. "I refuse to sleep in the wet spot because you are too lazy to perform a simple cleansing spell."

Sirius rolled of to the side of the bed and grabbed his wand. Yes Severus was being a prick at the moment, but Sirius was to sated to care. He performed the spell to clean them and the bed then set his wand back on the table and rolled back to face his lover. Who was scowling at him.

"You may leave now."

Sirius almost laughed. The man couldn't be serious? Oh right, this was Severus, of course he would think it perfectly fine to toss his lover five minutes after sex. Sirius shook his head and continued to move closer to Severus. He seemed a bit surprised by this, and then he seemed a bit afraid.

"What are you doing Black?"

"I think you can call me Sirius now," he murmured as he bent down to kiss Severus' ear in the way he had already discovered distracted the man thoroughly. "After all, I did just have my cock up you ass."

"Yes, well," Severus seemed to be having trouble concentrating. "That doesn't…"

"It's late, Severus," Sirius ran his tongue along the shell of Severus' ear, sending shivers of delight through the other man. "I want to sleep here." A nibble on the lobe and another shiver.

"I…s-suppose…"

"Mmm…" Sirius had moved down to Severus' neck and collar. They may have both been too spent to engage in anything serious again so soon, but they were both enjoying the little tender attentions nonetheless.

After about five more minutes of languid exploration and lingering kisses, Sirius rolled Severus to his side and curled up behind him, arms wrapped protectively around his lover. He was almost asleep when he heard Severus grumble sleepily to himself.

"'S not cuddling…"


	11. The Aftermath

Harry woke up to excessively bright lights and hushed voices. He did not have his glasses and everything was a blur of white with shades of soft color to break up the monotony. He felt a sense of deja vu wash over him and realized where he was. Hogwarts. The hospital wing.

Suddenly, flashes of memories came to him. The plan, the battle, the cries of his friends and allies, the flashes of light from curses being tossed about in a seemingly random fashion. Remus had stayed by his side, and Snape and Sirius had flanked them while the battle raged around them. Screams of friend and foe alike rent the air. Smoke, pain and the need to complete the ritual and bind Voldemort's soul to his mortal body.

It had been a beautiful day, bright with sunshine that was so rare in January. Even the breeze seemed mild, rather that the normal biting wind that was so typical in January. They had gone to Hogsmeade on the information Severus had provided that Voldemort was planning an attack on the village. He wanted control of the town because he knew it would bring that much closer to taking over Hogwarts itself.

They were shopping, browsing through the shops, seemingly alone and unarmed. Severus was under Harry's invisibility cloak while Sirius and Remus joked and poked fun at Harry. It would have been a perfect day for an outing if the shadow of Voldemort hadn't been looming over them the entire time. They were just about to give it up for a lost cause when the first cracks of apparition sounded in the streets of the tiny village.

Voldemort's men were quickly engaged in battle by townspeople and Order members. Severus, Sirius, and Remus all fought to keep Harry protected until the Dark Lord showed his face. It didn't take long. He appeared just as the Aurors began arriving, raising the occurrence in standing from a skirmish to a full out battle. Severus and Sirius now set about cutting a path for Harry and Remus through the fighting masses, bringing them ever closer to Voldemort.

Harry and Remus began the ritual and chant before they ever caught first sight of the snake-like creature, but it was difficult to concentrate on the task at hand with so much going on around them. They had done it though, with Sirius and Snape keeping the Dark Lord occupied, but then, just as they finished binding Voldemort's soul, a curse struck Remus. No.

In his mind, Harry could still see the blast of orange light coming from their right and watched as it struck Remus in the side. No, no, no!

"Remus?" Harry called out desperately. Oh Merlin, no. He had to be okay. Harry scrambled to find his glasses and put them on before struggling to sit up. He had to find Remus. He was halfway to his unsteady feet before the curtain was drawn back from around his bed.

"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey was not pleased that Harry would dare try to get out of bed without her permission. "Get yourself right back into bed this instant young man, before I use a body bind to hold you!"

Harry was incoherent with his need to find his mate. He shoved past the irate mediwitch and unconsciously blocked any spells she tossed his direction. He went from bed to bed, searching, but was only halfway down the wing before a familiar voice called his name.

"Harry James Potter! Get your ass back in bed right now!"

Remus.

Harry turned to see his mate stalking towards him, but could no longer hold himself upright. Remus was safe. Before he could hit the floor, Remus swept him up into his arms and carried him back to his bed. He set Harry down gently on the bed, sat beside him, and stroked his face gently,

"You shouldn't be working yourself up like that, love," Remus chided gently now that his mate was in bed again. "You expended quite a bit of magic yesterday and you need time to recover."

"I couldn't find you," Harry said tremulously. "I remembered you getting hit and I was scared…"

"I'm fine," Remus soothed. "I was hit with a stinging hex, nothing too damaging."

Harry breathed a bit deeper, reassured that his mate was okay. "What about Sirius and Snape?"

Remus' eyes clouded over for a moment, but he fought to keep a smile on his face. "They are well."

"Don't lie to me Remus," Harry frowned. "I can read your emotions, remember? What happened?"

"Sirius was hurt," Remus told him. "He was hit with an unknown curse. He's in a coma."

"Oh Merlin!" Harry whispered, tears springing up in his eyes. "Is he…"

"Poppy can't tell," Remus sighed. "Without knowing what the curse was, there is no way for her to reverse it. If we tried the wrong thing, it could cause more damage. We can only wait for now."

"Where is Severus?"

"He hasn't left Sirius' side since he brought him in," Remus smiled sadly. "He was pretty banged up, but he has refused to leave Sirius. Poppy finally convinced him to let her fix him up and got him to clean up in the loo up here. He's a mess, not that most people could tell. He looks as stoic and mean as ever, but his eyes…"

"He cares about Sirius, doesn't he?" Harry asked.

"I think he does," Remus said. "Not that he will admit as much."

"Can I see Siri?"

Remus sighed. "I'll carry you over. It's the only way Poppy is going to let you out of this bed. And only for a few minutes. Your magic needs time to recover, and that means rest."

Harry wrapped his arms around his mate as he was lifted into those strong arms. Remus carefully made his way over to the curtained off area at the end of the wing. Inside, they found Sirius looking as though he was simply sleeping peacefully. Beside him, Severus sat in a straight-backed chair and looked down at Sirius, his expression unreadable. It took him a few moment before he even realized that they were there.

"Oh, you are awake," Severus said in a lifeless monotone. "I expect you have come to see your godfather. I will leave you alone, then." He made to get up, but Harry stopped him.

"Don't leave. He'd like that you are here," Harry told his professor. Remus nodded silently and sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed, with Harry on his lap. "He and I talk about you, you know."

"No, I did not know," Severus whispered, turning to look at Sirius again.

"Yeah, he didn't say much, but he didn't really have to," Harry said. "Remus and I could both see how he feels about you. I'm just glad that you could both put the past behind you and be together. He told me about the night before the battle. Not any details, mind, but he did tell me. I think he was trying to take my mind off of what we were getting ready to do. I was nervous and scared, and I couldn't eat. He made me sit down, forced me to eat, and started telling me how I had been right about things and how he'd been lucky to have at least one night with you, even if you never wanted to speak to him ever again. He said that we would all have to do the best we could to make sure that we all had a future together. And he swore to me that no matter what he would not leave us; you, me or Remus."

Harry paused to catch his breath and to gather his thoughts. "He will beat this. He's got too much Gryffindor obstinacy to give up now."

Severus looked at Harry again and for long seconds their eyes met. Harry couldn't read what was going on behind those dark eyes, but he could feel Severus searching for the truth of Harry's words. After a long stretch of silence, Severus finally nodded.

"He is pigheaded."

"We'll go now," Remus said decisively and stood up with Harry still in his arms. "Harry needs to rest. Take care of Siri. And try to get some rest yourself."

As they left the curtained area, just before they passed through the silencing charm, Harry heard Severus whisper to Sirius, "Did you hear that you stubborn mutt. You made a promise not to leave us, not to leave me! I expect you to keep your promise. If you don't, I'll find you in the afterlife and make your eternity a complete misery. And you know I can do…"

"They'll be okay, love," Remus told Harry as he set him down on his bed. He spent a few minutes tucking Harry in before continuing, "You were right about Sirius. He spent twelve years in Azkaban and survived with body, heart and mind unbroken by the horrors of that place. He won't let some spell do him in now."


	12. Running Scared

Everything was black and silent, but Sirius could feel the oppressive weight of it begin to lift. How long had he been here, in this stifling darkness? It felt like forever and yet only a moment. He knew that there was someplace he needed to be, though where that was or why was a mystery, but he could not seem to break free of the dense shadows and heavy silence of this place.

It was only as the darkness began to lift that he realized that 'here' wasn't really a place. The shadows began to take shape and slowly noises drifted into his conscious mind. Voices were recognizable though their words were not. The battle. Had he died in the battle? What about Severus? Was he okay? And Harry and Remus?

Suddenly, Sirius found that slowly returning to the world was not enough. He needed to be awake, and he needed to know what had happened. He pushed through the fog in his mind, trying to make sense of the words dancing around him, almost visible in their tangibility, yet still just slightly out of reach. The shadows faded a bit more with each thrust from his mind, and with their decline, pain slipped into their place, making his head throb and ache with the strain of consciousness.

"Sirius?" a low smooth voice called out for him, familiar and yet odd for its gentleness. "Come on Sirius, come back to me now."

Sirius struggled harder, taking courage from the heartening tone in the other's voice. He realized almost suddenly that his eyes were closed and concentrated on getting them to open. They felt like they had been glued shut. With what seemed like a Herculean effort he finally raised his eyelids to the blinding light beyond and quickly shut them again.

"That's it. You can do it." The voice encouraged even as Sirius could feel the lights dimming around him. He attempted to open his eyes again, and this time the lights were more bearable. "I've dimmed the lights in here a bit, so it won't be so harsh for you. Do you know who I am?"

Sirius had to stop and struggle to put the images and ideas in order in his head before he could even attempt to form words.

"S- Se- Sev." It was the best he could do. His throat felt like it was on fire, a pain only second to the pain in his head.

"Yes, Severus," the man smiled, and Sirius had to stop and think. That looked odd and unfamiliar. Had he ever seen this man smile before? No, he didn't think he had.

"O…kay?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Severus answered pleasantly. "A bit tired. You've had us all worried for almost a week now."

"Har-? Remi?" Sirius struggled with every word.

"They too are fine. Harry had a bit of a time of it after it was all over. His powers surged and knocked him out for a bit until they could get back under control, and Remus was hit with a stinging hex that lasted only a few minutes. Everyone is fine, and Voldemort is finally dead. It's over."

Sirius nodded once and drifted back into the painless darkness that was calling him.

**HPHPHP**

"I don't understand that man! He's here all bloody week, won't leave Sirius' side, but the minute he wakes up, he just turns tail and runs out of here!"

"He's afraid, Harry. He's finally sure that Sirius is out of danger and now he's had time to think about what he's been feeling and the implications of all that. He's scared to death of facing Sirius, let alone those of us who were witness to his distress. Give him time. He'll come around."

"He'd better get his head out of his arse before he hurts Sirius, or he's going to have something else to fear besides his emotions." Harry muttered.

Sirius wanted to laugh at the face he could just imagine Harry making; sort of pouty but trying to be fierce. Remus did laugh.

"He'll be back," Sirius croaked out. He struggled to open his eyes, finding Harry and Remus leaning over his bed and smiling warmly.

"You're awake," Harry grinned at his godfather.

"I guess so," Sirius said.

"Here, Poppy left these for you," Remus said, holding two vials of potion out for Sirius to take. Harry helped him sit up before assisting him with swallowing the vile concoctions. "One is for pain, and the other should help re-hydrate you."

Sirius felt much better as he felt the potions go to work on his body. "Thank you."

"So you heard what we were saying?" Harry asked a bit nervously.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed as he leaned back against his pillows. "He was here before. When I woke up. And he seemed rather pleased to see me. He told me everyone made it through, or at least the four of us. I know you think he's gone for good Harry, but he's not. He'll be back. Remus is right, though; he is scared."

"It'll work out," Remus said. "For now, Poppy needs to get a good look at you while you are still awake. She believes that the curse you got hit with has simply worked itself out of your system, but she needs to do a few tests to make sure."

**HPHPHP**

Two weeks, Harry fumed. It had been two weeks since Sirius woke up and in that time, Severus had not come to see him once. Not in the infirmary and not at Grimmauld Place. He knew that Remus kept saying that things would work out, but he could also see Sirius become more and more dejected every day. He fully expected that Severus would come around, but Harry was not so optimistic. He knew very well just how stubborn Snape could be. He'd spent years holding a grudge against a dead man, after all.

No, if Snape was afraid (and Harry thought he probably was) he would never admit it, and he would hide himself away from the possibility of having that fear exposed. Therefore, Gryffindor that he was, Harry felt it was his responsibility to force the man to face whatever had him running for cover. And Harry did not have the patience to watch his godfather hurting any longer. Severus would either get over himself, or Harry would hex him into next year.

Harry knocked at the Potions Master's office door and waited patiently. It was office hours, and Severus was very particular to sticking to his schedule. If he had posted office hours, he would be in his office. And as a student, there was no way he could refuse Harry's request for entrance.

"Yes?" Snape snarled. He had been in an even worse mood these past two weeks than Harry could ever remember, which was saying a lot. "Oh. Potter. What do you want?"

"May I come in sir?" Harry asked pointedly. "I was hoping to discuss something with you."

Severus looked like he wanted to refuse, but he could come up with know feasible excuse and finally stepped back from the door to allow Harry inside. Harry moved before Severus could change his mind and sat himself down in the chair before the desk. It was a hard wooden chair, designed to make a student as uncomfortable as possible. Harry frowned at the offending furniture and waved his wand at it, transfiguring it into a nice squashy chair. Severus scowled at the action but did not comment.

"So what can I do for you, Mr. Potter?"

"You can start by telling me why you are being such a fucking arse to my godfather," Harry said bluntly. The conversation went down hill from there.

**HPHPHP**

Damn that Potter brat! Severus was fuming and pacing the length of his sitting room, having thrown Harry out just moments before. Harry had dared to come into his office and berate him for his behavior towards that thrice damned mutt! He'd made no promises! He'd not declared his undying love for the man! He had no obligation to hold his hand now! No matter what Potter implied, Black had not made any declarations and asked for no promises. They had shared a handful of civil conversations and had sex one night to ease the tensions for the coming battle. That was not love.

The sex was rather spectacular, another part of his brain insisted on pointing out. And those conversations were rather stimulating. Even when they fought, it had been exciting, rather than filled with the old animosity and rancor. And then, when he was hurt…

Severus poured a scotch and watched as the amber liquid rose to the lip of the glass before take a deep swallow and allowing the alcohol to warm the coldness that seemed to have taken over since leaving the infirmary. He'd never noticed how cold his quarters in the dungeons were before now. He waved his wand at the fire and watched the flames leap. It didn't help.

Damn that brat! Why did he have to come here? Sirius was pining. Sirius cared about him. Sirius deserved to at least hear the truth from Severus. Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. Damn Potter! What about Severus? What about how he was feeling?

And how was he feeling? Cold. He was feeling cold.

Severus thought back to nights he had sat in the Library with Black, sipping their drinks and debating about…anything and everything. It had been warm there. It had been cozy. Huh. Grimmauld Place cozy?

Severus took another long swallow of his drink and sat in his favorite arm chair. Even that seemed to be less comfortable now. He looked at the shelves of books and thought he should do some research, or grade papers or…something! But he couldn't work up the energy to care. He hadn't graded a single paper since the students had returned to school a week ago, and he hadn't read one single potions journal, or worked on any of his research projects. What was the matter with him?

He'd been alone all his life, he was used to being alone. He liked his solitude. Nothing had changed. Except that everything had.

"Damn Potter," he sighed. "And damn Black too."

**HPHPHP**

Harry, Remus and Sirius were just cleaning up dinner two days later when they heard the whoosh of the floo. Only two people had access to the floo connection. Harry and Remus looked at each other, while Sirius looked at the plate he was drying and tried not to get his hopes up.

"I'll just go see who it is," Remus said and left Harry and Sirius to finish up.

They were silent as they worked, neither of them wanting to break the silence, both straining to hear something from upstairs. A few minutes passed and then a single set of footsteps could be heard coming back down the stairs.

"Whoever it was must have gone," Sirius whispered, pain lighting his eyes. Harry wanted to hug him, but Sirius was already turning away.

"Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you would leave."

Two heads turned toward the kitchen door. There stood a scowling Severus Snape in all his black robed glory. Harry couldn't help but grin.

"Get out," Severus growled. "I will deal with your interference later."

Harry nodded, his grin still firmly in place, and fled the room.

"What do you want" Sirius asked, his tone cool, but his eyes could not hide the hope there.

"I told Remus I wanted to see if there were any lingering effects from that spell," Severus said. Sirius' face fell in disappointment, so Severus went on, "That's only partly true, however."

"And what is the rest of the truth?" Sirius asked.

"I…I was cold."

Whatever Sirius had been expecting Severus to say, that certain wasn't it. "You were cold?"

Severus nodded. "There is something wrong with me. I have not been able to get warm since…since I left the hospital wing."

"Oh."

"I was warm here."

"Grimmauld Place is not exactly a warm and cozy place, you know," Sirius said mildly.

"No, it is not," Severus agreed. "But I was warm here."

"I see."

They both stood there in silence for long minutes.

Sirius finally said, "I suppose I'll have to let you stay then. I can't have you freezing on my account." He took a step closer to Severus.

"No. Albus would be severely disappointed," Severus responded as he took a tentative step forward.

"And we can't disappoint Albus," Sirius agreed, moving forward again. Then they were both moving, closing the distance between them, until they met in an embrace that seemed to warm the entire room. Their mouths met in a kiss so fierce that it left them both gasping for breath as their tongues danced and dueled in an echo of the way the two obdurate men related.

Neither man saw the two heads peeking through the doorway, or the satisfied smiles on those faces. If they had, they might have been embarrassed, or they might not have cared at all.


	13. Epilogue: We've Only Just Begun

Harry graduated a few months later and as a graduation gift, Sirius sent Harry and Remus on a two month trip around Europe. They saw Paris, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Luxembourg, Athens, Prague, Brussels, and Berlin. For Harry, who had never traveled anywhere, it was exciting and educational. For Remus, who had always had to scrape knuts to get by, it was luxury. They both had a fabulous time and came home with smiles and tans and wonderful little stories about all of the places they had seen and the people they had met.

While they were gone, Sirius had set about on his own adventure, right there at home. He'd been considering it for a while, but with Harry and Remus away, it was the perfect opportunity to completely demolish Grimmauld Place and rebuild the house. With the help of Wizarding contractors and landscapers, the house was completed just days before Harry and Remus returned from their holiday.

Sirius spent the last week scouring furniture stores and buying all of the items necessary to make a house a home. By the time Remus and Harry Apparated to the nearby alley and walked the few meters to the front door, there was not one recognizable thing left about the place.

"Remus, is this the right place?" Harry asked, staring at the bright red door with the dog's head brass knocker. Nothing looked familiar. Even the stonework was fresh and new, glittering in the afternoon sun.

"The plate says number 12," Remus shrugged, just as confused. "Let's try the door and see."

Harry reached a tentative hand to the door and felt the warm tingle of familiar wards wash over him. Okay, so at least the wards knew him. He pushed the door open and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor at the sight that was waiting for him on the other side. Gone were the dark walls, the elves' heads, the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black. Gone was the gloomy interior of a house filled with dark magic.

In fact, the entrance to 12 Grimmauld Place was now spacious and cheerful, painted a happy buttercup yellow and decorated with an oak coat rack and key table. There were now two doors leading out of the once open area which had been closed off from the rest of the house. Each of the heavy oak doors had a brass nameplate on it.

Remus walked up to read one while Harry read the other.

"Remus J. Lupin and Harry J. Potter Residence," Harry read out loud.

"This one says 'Severus and Sirius Black-Snape Residence,'" Remus said breathlessly.

"You mean…?"

"I guess they must have," Remus replied.

"Those pricks!" Harry barked out, half angry at not being invited to the wedding, and half amused because it was just so like the two men.

"Mr. Potter," Severus drawled as he opened the door with his name on it. "So nice to see you again too."

"You got married without us?" Harry asked, and without waiting for an answer shoved past the man in search of his godfather. "Sirius, you prick, get your ass out here!"

Remus rushed after his mate but stopped in his tracks as soon as he caught sight of the room they were in. Harry too had stopped once he'd realized what he'd walked into. The room was decked out in flowers and ribbons. There was a traditional wedding arbor at one end and several chairs on either side of the short aisle down the center.

"We did not get married without you," Severus finally answered Harry's question from before. "And your godfather is not here at the moment. He is, in fact, picking up your robes for this evening's event. You are an hour early."

Remus and Harry stared at Severus open mouthed, then looked at each other.

"What the hell has been going on around here while we've been gone?" Remus finally asked.

Severus would have answered, though his reply would have most likely been sarcastic and droll, but he was interrupted by the arrival of Sirius.

"You're early!" Sirius shouted as he swept Harry and Remus both into a single hug. "Merlin! I've missed you two! Things just aren't the same without you around!"

"It looks like you kept busy," Remus said dryly. Harry agreed with a snort.

"Yes, well," Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, so Sev and I are getting married tonight, and you two have to stand up for us. I got your robes, so no worries about that. And the ceremony is pretty simple; we've only invited a few people…"

"Sirius, what happened to the house?" Harry interrupted.

"The house?" Sirius looked at the room as if he'd forgotten where he was. With his mind racing over the wedding plans, he probably had. "Oh! I decided that I hated the old place, so I had this place razed and rebuilt. Turned it into two separate flats. We took the downstairs, since Sev wanted the cellar to put his potions lab into. You two get the upper stories. Come on, I'll show you around."

For the next half hour Sirius showed them the two apartments. The lower apartment used the cellar, which had housed the old kitchen, for it new kitchen, the potions lab, and an office for Severus. The ground floor had the sitting room where they had begun, a dining room, and a library. The first floor had a master suite and a guest suite.

Remus and Harry's new apartment was only two stories, starting on the second floor, where they had their living space all together in one flowing room. Their kitchen, a small eating area, and sitting room combined into what some call a great room. They also had a small conservatory that overlooked the back garden. On the top floor, they had a master suite, a guest suite and a small library. Harry and Remus thought it was absolutely perfect for them.

Sirius had bought a few basic items for them, but they would need to finish decorating the place themselves. Since neither had a job, and little else to do currently, they figured it would be a fun project to keep them busy while Severus and Sirius were on honeymoon.

They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up and getting dressed fro the wedding. Remus was to stand up for Sirius and Harry for Severus. Sirius had told them that Severus had asked specifically if he could have Harry stand up for hi, though he would probably never admit such a thing. The snarky man seemed to have developed a bit of respect for the young man who had worked his ass of in order to be able to defeat Voldemort. Not to mention the fact that Harry had somehow wiggled his way into the man's heart and life.

The robes that Sirius had purchased for them were semi-casual, but finely made in the best silk available. They reminded Harry of the silk robes that he'd seen some Japanese wizards wearing while in Rome. They had high collars and tight cuffs, were closely tailored over the chest and waist, but flared loosely from the hips to the knees. Beneath the robes, they wore matching silk trousers. Both sets of robes were in black, but they had different colored runes stitched into the collars, hems, and cuffs. Harry's runes were in green and silver, while Remus' were in gold and red. Harry wondered why he got the Slytherin colors until they went down to the wedding and saw Severus and Sirius. Sirius was wearing a red silk robe with gold trim and black trousers, while Severus was wearing green with silver trim.

Harry was greeted by several friends as he made his way to the front of the room. He noted that many members of the Order were there, including the majority of the Weasleys and Hermione. Several staff members from Hogwarts were present as well. Harry tried not to think about who was not there. Flitwick would have loved to see Severus get married. And Hagrid had always loved weddings.

"Thank you for standing up with me," Severus said quietly once Harry had reached his side. Harry looked into the nervous eyes before him and grinned.

"It is my honor to do so," Harry said honestly. "You have been more than a friend to me over the years, even when I was too stupid to see it. You have been a protector, a teacher, a mentor, and now you will become my step-godfather. It is a privilege to stand as your witness today."

Severus looked into Harry's eyes, as if to judge the truth of his words there, then nodded. Just then the officiant called for order and the guests all took their seats, and the participants took their places.

Harry followed the ceremony as best he could, but when it was all over, the thing he remembered the best was the way Remus looked at him as their friends repeated their vows, the way Severus and Sirius looked at each other with absolute devotion, and the overwhelming sense that his pack was together and safe and happy at last.

They had a small reception in the garden after the ceremony. Sirius had finally replaced Kreacher with two very helpful house elves, and they laid out a spread for the small party that could have fed them all for a week. Cake was cut, music played, and people danced under the twinkling faerie lights that were scattered throughout the garden.

Harry spent time catching up with Hermione and Ron, who had final begun dating after Hermione had snogged Ron silly at their graduation party, as well as the rest of the Weasley clan. He danced with Remus and Sirius. He chatted with the headmaster, who asked him to come and teach DADA. But mostly he just had fun with absolutely no worries pressing in on him, something he'd not been able to do before Voldemort's defeat

"Where will you be going on your honeymoon?" Harry asked the happy couple once the crowd had dwindled out and they had a moment's peace.

"That is a rather rude question," Severus told him, "but since we are family now, I suppose I can answer it." He'd had a bit to drink, Harry noted with an inward grin. "We're going to Cyprus. I tried to talk Sirius out of it, but he insisted we go someplace sunny. Damned mutt."

Harry chuckled along with Remus and Sirius, who seemed to have taken the insult for the endearment it actually was. The other two men were a bit tipsy as well, having all partaken of the freely flowing champagne, but Harry was still sober. He'd stuck with juice all evening, a fact that no one but Remus seemed to have noticed until the new house elf tried to refill their drinks just then. Harry held a hand over his glass and asked for more juice instead.

"Why aren't you celebrating with us?" Sirius asked, slightly offended in his inebriated state.

"Harry can't have alcohol right now," Remus told them. Harry glanced at his mate. They hadn't planned on saying anything tonight, but he didn't think Remus remembered that after six glasses of champagne.

"And why is that?" Severus asked.

"Because he's going to have a pup!" Remus announced with pride.

Harry just shook his head in fond bemusement. Remus insisted on calling their baby a pup.

"I'm due in January," Harry said. "We found out a week ago and wanted to wit until we were home before telling you."

"You took one of those blasted potions without consulting me?" Severus scowled. "I'll have you know that if made improperly, a male fertility potion can be extremely dangerous!"

"We didn't take a potion," Harry told him. "If we were going to use a potion, we would have come to you. You are the best, after all."

"We think it is a side effect of the mating," Remus explained.

Severus seemed satisfied after being acknowledged as the best in his field, but Sirius had remained silent, his jaw hanging open.

"I'm going to be a grandpa?" he finally asked in awe.

"Sure are," Harry grinned.

"Woohoo!" Sirius whooped and swept Harry from his seat and into a twirling embrace. "That's the best damned wedding gift ever!"

"We're a family now," Harry said when Sirius finally put him down. "All of us."

"Family," Remus agreed.

"Family," grinned Sirius.

They all looked to Severus, who scowled before saying, "Fine! Family. Now can we get going on this honeymoon? I want the wedding night sex already."

They all laughed and went inside their new home to say their goodbyes. Their new life was only just beginning.

**The End**


End file.
